Try your best to stick to the project schedule and never allow project slippage. When the project slips and takes longer, it can have serious side effects.
Let us examine the side effects of Project slippage:
- Changing world: The world around you is constantly changing. When your project takes longer than think about the risk of competition; new entrants; industry disrupters, changes in government policy and regulations.
- Delay in other business initiatives: Delay in your project can increase overall Work in Progress (WIP) and may cause inefficiency and delay in other planned projects.
- Project Team Morale: Few team members who commit their heart and soul to the project feel disheartened by the go-live date shift. As a result, their engagement level can drop.
- Total Cost of Ownership (TCO): The larger the project drags, the higher the TCO. It should be a critical consideration for the business case.
- People move on: There is often a risk of key resources leaving for projects that drag too long. It leaves a gap in knowledge and experience. The new people will take the time to learn and adjust. Overall it causes further delay and increase in TCO.
In a nutshell, there must be a good reason for the delay. We must continuously review the Business case to justify the delay, reassess risks and find alternatives. We must know where we are heading. Drifting is sinking!