People love to ask what success will look like, but this falls short. The better question is, “How will we know the project is having the impact we want it to have?”
For example, if your project aims to reduce customer wait times, you need to capture wait times prior to starting so that you have a data point to compare your results against. You may need to add a survey to your project to gather qualitative feedback before and after delivery.
Finally, change management and risk management are more important with distributed projects because of the increased unpredictability.
For the former, the best approach is to engage all key stakeholders — including sponsors, executives, tertiary managers, client partners, government, contractors, and end users — from the start to determine what change is acceptable and where it’s most likely to occur.
Pay Close Attention to Team Dynamics
When looking for risks, pay special attention to team members lacking enthusiasm, making errors, or showing indecisiveness. In 2014, leading consulting firm Deloitte found that more complex projects fail more often. Yet it’s not the complexity that creates failure — it’s failing to put the right people and controls in place.