The Hidden Costs of Poor Project Health

Why Project Assurance Matters

In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, transformation projects and programmes, particularly digital led, are no longer optional – they’re essential for survival. Learn how continuous project assurance can help improve project health.

Yet despite their critical importance, research shows that 70% of digital transformation projects fail to meet their objectives (Boston Consulting Group). The key differentiator between success and failure often lies not in the technology chosen or resources allocated, but in how well the project or programme is governed and assured throughout its lifecycle.

This article introduces the concept of continuous Project, Programme or Portfolio Assurance – a proactive approach that helps organisations identify and address potential issues before they impact project success.

The Project Challenge

The Stakes Have Never Been Higher

• 80% of enterprise-scale digital transformation projects fail to deliver their intended benefits (Gartner, 2023)
• Financial services organizations lose an average of £15 million annually due to poor project performance (PMI Financial Services Industry Report, 2023)
• Only 34% of digital transformation projects are completed on time and within budget (Deloitte Digital Transformation Survey, 2023)

Why Projects Struggle

Many project management approaches often fall short in today’s complex digital landscape. Common challenges include:

• Unclear objectives and success criteria
• Misaligned stakeholder expectations
• Inadequate governance structures
• Reactive rather than proactive risk management
• Poor change management and user adoption

The cost of these failures extends beyond immediate financial impact, affecting competitive advantage, market position, and employee morale.

Project Assurance: A Continuous Journey

Moving Beyond the Periodic Review

Traditional project audits, while valuable, often come too late to prevent project derailment. They provide a snapshot in time rather than the continuous oversight needed in today’s fast-paced digital environment. Continuous Project Assurance takes a different approach:

What is Continuous Project Assurance?

It’s a proactive, ongoing process that runs alongside your project, providing real-time insights and early warning indicators. Think of it as your project’s navigation system – constantly monitoring direction, speed, and potential obstacles ahead.

Continuous Assurance can be applied to individual projects, programmes or an organisation’s whole portfolio of change, via a Project Management Office or PMO. The role of Project Assurance is critical to the functioning of the Steering Committee / Project Board and needs to have direct access to the Sponsor and/or board of directors.

Benefits of Ongoing Project Assurance

Measurable Impact on Project Success

Organisations implementing continuous Project Assurance typically experience:

• 40% reduction in project delivery timelines
• Early identification of issues when they’re 3-5x cheaper to resolve
• Improved stakeholder confidence and engagement

Key Benefits:

Time Saving

• Faster decision-making through clear governance structures
• Reduced rework through early course correction
• Streamlined reporting and communication channels
• Accelerated benefit realization

Enhanced Control

• Real-time visibility of project health
• Proactive risk identification and mitigation
• Clearer accountability at all levels
• Improved resource allocation

Knowledge Enhancement

• Building internal project management capability
• Transfer of best practices
• Improved organizational project maturity
• Sustainable improvement in delivery capability

Stakeholder Confidence

• Greater transparency in project status
• More accurate forecasting
• Better aligned expectations
• Increased executive confidence

The key difference

Early identification of potential issues and immediate course correction, rather than discovering problems during periodic reviews when they’re more expensive and time-consuming to fix.

What Next?

If you want to achieve more success with your projects and programmes, then the first place to start is by downloading my free Ultimate Project Health Check Tool.

If you need more direct and immediate active assistance, leave a comment or send me a message and I’ll get back to you to arrange a free consultation. Let’s work together to improve project success rates!

Paul Every
Assurify Consulting, Jersey