Project Termination
The decision to continue or close down the project is fundamentally an organizational resource allocation decision. Should the organization commit additional resources to complete the project and realize the project objectives? This is a complex decision. The rationale for closing or proceeding is often based on many cost factors that are primarily subjective and judgmental.
It's often difficult to perceive when a project is in trouble (Gray & Larson, 2003, p. 499). The purpose of this paper is to discuss all the considerations that might lead to terminating my project and analyzing the termination process.
Project managers, whose primary objective is a successful project delivery, are often reluctant to report project issues as "showstoppers." Project managers are often too close to project issues to see the bigger picture, namely the impact issues may have on the organization as a whole. Sometimes it's not one large issue, but rather the result of several small issues, that will wreck a project.
Other times it may not be the project at all, but rather a priority change in the business environment, which will lead to a project's closure.
But there are many valid reasons to terminate a project before completion, most of which do not necessarily imply that doing the project was wrong. In the next several paragraphs we will discuss several of these reasons for termination.
Incomplete Requirements
ÃÂÃ ÃÂÃ ÃÂÃ ÃÂÃ ÃÂÃ ÃÂÃ ÃÂÃ ÃÂÃ Closure from this source is more likely to come from mismanaged projects, that continue without a clear idea of the stakeholders needs and priorities. Although some terminations also come from well-managed projects when project managers realize that requirements are going to keep on changing and a clear requirement statement is never going to be agreed on.
Lack of User Involvement
ÃÂÃ ÃÂÃ ÃÂÃ ÃÂÃ ÃÂÃ ÃÂÃ ÃÂÃ ÃÂÃ This termination comes from a communication failure between the users and the...