Critical factors for project success in an engineering environment

Abstract

Not every project deserving of success achieves it. Conversely, not every project heading for the scrap heap arrives. The journey to project success is long and hard and does not happen overnight. To understand the journey to project success we need to understand what makes a project successful. A successful project can be classified as a Project of which the costs did not exceed 25% of the agreed capital approved with a less than 25% schedule slip and with all the operational problems being sorted out in less than a year. Project success potential, can be increased by focusing on the critical factors listed in this study, namely: Project Front End Loading (FEL), high calibre project teams, and people skills/soft skills of project management. The success of a project can be increased when the project has high calibre project teams starting the project with very effective Front End Loading (FEL) and keep project team members continuity based on the fact that the project is managed by a project manager understanding people who have the soft skill to lead and influence the project team, rather than managing the team. The research was conducted by means of a literature and empirical study. The literature study documents the critical factors for project success. Knowledge gained from the literature study formed the basis for the empirical study to test critical factors for project success in practice and the recommendations can be read in chapter four.