In the demanding landscape of IT project management, maintaining focus and controlling scope are perpetual challenges. For us as senior IT leaders, understanding the insidious forces that lead to "project drift"—the uncontrolled expansion of scope or deviation from schedule—is critical to safeguarding our strategic investments and ensuring predictable delivery. While many factors can contribute to drift, a significant driver often lies within our own teams: the inherent desire to build the "best-in-class" solution, rather than the strategically pragmatic "good enough" offering.
The three pillars of project drift: A strategic overview
Project drift is rarely caused by a single factor. Instead, it's often a confluence of elements that, left unchecked, can derail even the most meticulously planned initiatives. We can broadly categorize these triggers into three interconnected areas that directly affect our ability to achieve strategic objectives and return on investment (ROI):
- Scope evolution: This has long been the most common culprit. New requirements emerge, stakeholders identify additional needs, or the understanding of the problem deepens as the project progresses. While some scope adjustments are natural and necessary for strategic alignment, uncontrolled additions can fundamentally alter the project's trajectory, consuming resources that could be better allocated elsewhere.
- Schedule realities: Project schedules are dynamic. Dependencies on other initiatives, unforeseen technical hurdles, or resource availability issues can cause delays. Leading indicators like critical path analysis and phase completion rates are vital for spotting these deviations early. Proactive management is key to ensuring schedule slippage doesn't lead to missed strategic windows or diminished ROI.
- Resource and funding flux: The availability of skilled personnel and adequate funding is foundational. The departure of key team members with critical context, or unexpected budget cuts or reallocations, can force a re-evaluation of project scope and timelines. These changes can potentially diminish the strategic value delivered and force leaders to make difficult prioritization decisions.
The "best-in-class" siren song: A strategic temptation
Beyond these external and resource-driven factors lies a powerful internal force: the human element. Many IT professionals, particularly engineers and developers, possess a natural inclination to strive for excellence and innovation. They seek to build the most robust, efficient, and feature-rich solutions possible. This ambition to create "best-in-class" products is commendable, but it often clashes with the strategic imperative for "good enough."
In many business contexts, "good enough" is precisely what’s needed to achieve strategic objectives, deliver timely ROI, and manage risk effectively. Chasing "best-in-class" can lead to gold-plating—adding features and complexity that exceed the original mandate, consume extra resources, and delay delivery, without a proportional increase in strategic value. This can divert focus from critical, minimum viable product (MVP) requirements, ultimately undermining the project's core purpose and its ROI. It’s about making strategic choices to deliver what’s essential first, rather than getting lost in perfecting every detail.
Strategic control: Managing drift for business outcomes
To combat project drift and ensure our technology investments have their intended strategic impact, we must implement disciplined portfolio management practices:
- Rigorous scope definition and control: Establish clear, agreed-upon project mandates and meticulously define scope. Implement a robust process for evaluating and approving any changes, ensuring they align with strategic priorities and don't jeopardize ROI.
- Proactive monitoring and dependency management: Utilize systems that provide real-time visibility into scope, schedule, and resource utilization. Proactively track internal and external dependencies to anticipate and mitigate issues that could have an impact on strategic timelines.
- Strategic prioritization: Foster a culture in which difficult but necessary decisions are made. Empower teams to say "no" to scope additions that detract from core strategic objectives, so resources stay focused on high-impact activities.
- Guiding team ambition: Acknowledge and channel the drive for excellence by focusing teams on delivering the agreed-upon strategic value and essential outcomes. Help them understand that strategic success often lies in efficient execution rather than absolute perfection.
Key takeaways for IT leaders
Here are some key strategies to apply:
- Understand the triggers: Recognize scope changes, schedule slippage, and resource/funding fluctuations as primary indicators of drift, which can compromise the team’s ability to achieve strategic goals.
- Manage dependencies strategically: Implement robust tracking of internal and external project dependencies to maintain portfolio health and promote timely delivery.
- Embrace "good enough" for strategic delivery: Prioritize delivering essential strategic value efficiently, rather than dedicating time and resources to overachieving and striving for "best-in-class.”
- Empower strategic decision-making: Ensure clear accountability for scope and priority decisions to prevent uncontrolled expansion and maintain focus.
- Channel team ambition for impact: Guide teams towards fulfilling the core project mandate and strategic objectives, ensuring every effort contributes to measurable business outcomes.
By actively managing the forces that drive project drift—both external pressures and internal ambitions—we can ensure our IT portfolios remain strategically aligned, deliver predictable value, and maximize ROI. In this way, we can ultimately better fulfill our advisory role and help the business be more successful.
