CompTIA: Poor Communication Dooms Projects

Poor communication is the factor that most often causes a project to fail, according to the results of new Web poll released Wednesday by the Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA).

Nearly 28 percent of the more than 1,000 respondents to the poll said poor communications was the main reason for project failure. Insufficient resource planning was the second most mentioned cause (18 percent), and an unrealistic schedule (13.2 percent) was the third most cited reason for failed projects.

"Clearly, technical skills alone are no longer enough," said John Venator, president and CEO of CompTIA. "Technology workers must have solid communications skills, both verbal and written, in order to complete projects that are delivered on time, at or under budget and provide the promised benefits to the organization."

Among other factors cited in the Web poll that contribute to project failure were poor project requirements (9.8 percent); lack of stakeholder buy-in/support (6.7 percent); undefined project success/closure criteria (5.2 percent); unrealistic budget (4.8 percent); insufficient or no risk planning (4.4 percent); and lack of control/change process (4.3 percent).

CompTIA offers a professional certification for individuals looking to demonstrate they have a comprehensive understanding of core project management best practices, the group said. CompTIA Project+ certifies that an individual has mastered job-task knowledge equivalent to 2,000 hours of project management experience, including skills such as communication, negotiation and conflict resolution.

Computing Technology Industry Association www.comptia.org