why projects fail | Vincula Connect

The Real reasons projects fail – Finale. Blog 5

by Vincula Holdings | Mar 13, 2026 | Adventure, Business, Latest News, Project Failure, Projects

All of the listed reasons in our previous blogs, for project failure are valid and can result in project failure, without a doubt.

However, we at Vincula believe that the real reason for project failure is very seldom, if ever, attributable to a single reason only. Many factors (failure train) play a role in project failure, and we believe it starts with an unrealistically limited budget paired with a lack of (sufficient) time allowed by the employer to have the project executed. This then results in a lack of time to draft a comprehensive scope of works.

Add to this a limited time for the bidders to review the RFQ, obtain prices and to submit a bid, and things are surely at risk.

Then, because of a constrained budget, limited time to award (and execute the project), the employer seldom wants to (or has the time to) properly negotiate their contract terms with the bidders.

By this time, the project work should have commenced already so the bidders programme duration is reduced in order to accommodate the employer’s, sometimes, unrealistic requirements.

The project is awarded to the least expensive bidder.

Now we have the perfect storm, and the failure train is complete. Limited budget – Unrealistic project duration expectations by employer – Unclear scope – Insufficient time to bid – Unrealistic programme – High risk contractual terms – ensured project failure.

Obviously the above is about the worst-case scenario, but when you have any combination of these stated factors, your project is definitively at risk of failure. The project manager and his team are now the only people who can rescue the project. The person in the arena has to save the day (and project).

The successful completion of a project is a shared obligation and both the employer as well as the contractor are accountable to the stakeholders for a successfully completed project. Team work and a single focussed objective is paramount. It must be added that both employers and contractors should know when to break off negotiations and step away from a potential project. Letting work go is difficult, but when a number of the red flags of the failure train are present and the parties cannot resolve them, you should take time to reassess the risks involved.

Let us know what your experiences are.

The real reasons projects fail – Blog 4

by Vincula Holdings | Mar 6, 2026 | Business, Latest News, Project Failure, Projects

POOR RESOURCE ALLOCATION.

Poor resource allocation is a reasonably common cause for project failure. This topic, as are so many of the other topics, is wide and much could be written about it. It is Friday so let us keep this as short as possible.

What are project resources?

The project manager’s resources may include his team, project funds, equipment, materials, suppliers, time, software, subcontractors. In other words, whatever the project manager requires in order to execute and complete the project is a project resource. We at Vincula also believe your contracts are not only a “tool” but one of your most important resources and should be used and applied.

How do you allocate your resources poorly?

If your project goals are not clear and/or if the project is not meticulously planned, then you will find that you will easily allocate your resources poorly.

We would say that a skills mismatch is the biggest mistake you can make when it comes to poor resource allocation. The examples are unlimited and appear in every industry, from construction to IT.

A close second would be a bad choice of sub contractor. Visit Vinculaholdings.com and have a look at the intro for more details.

Thirdly, to over work a member of the team or the team as a whole.

Fourthly, allocating budget incorrectly, is a project killer.

Poor resource allocation can be prevented.

Understand the scope, client expectations, the site, contractual risks and obligations, and the specifications you have to comply with. Once the above is clear, plan the execution properly (perhaps even to a WBS level 4) and allocate your resources accordingly.

So often it happens that you have an extremely limited time within which to quote and a proper planning session is out of the question. We suggest that, in these instances, you quote based on assumptions, and you clearly state the assumptions in your bid.

Projects seldom fail because teams do not work hard enough; they fail because their resources were not aligned with the real demands of the work. Clear scope, realistic planning, and honest assumptions go a long way toward preventing that. Enjoy your Friday, weekend — and allocate your weekend wisely too.

WHY DO PROJECTS FAIL – The real reasons Blog 3

by Vincula Holdings | Feb 27, 2026 | Business, Latest News, Project Failure, Projects

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Switching priorities,

Priorities, Priorities… This reason for project failure is a wide as you can get. A great many reasons that could actually be listed as reasons in their own right for project failure, can be categorised under switching priorities.

Some of the reasons why Switching Priorities do cause project failure may include:

Scope creep: Fortunately, but only if your contract was properly drafted, scope creep is usually at the risk and cost of the employer and you as the contractor would be entitled to a compensation event, variation order or similar and any resulting switched priorities should have little or no effect on the project outcome.
Insufficient planning: If the contractor’s programme is inaccurate, incomplete or reflect dates which are wrong you can expect that switching priorities (in as far as project execution is concerned – budget, cost overruns, missed deadlines, payment of penalties etcetera) will occur on a regular and increasing basis. This will most likely cause project failure.
Rework: Any rework will affect the accepted programme, recourses, project budget, the project manager’s time, and attention, to name a few. Depending on the size and nature of the rework (plus where it lies in the programmes – perhaps on the critical path) rework will influence the project and most likely result in switched priorities.
Other projects: Sometimes it happens that a project manager is tasked with more than one project or is tasked with a new project midway through his/her current project. This may, depending on the size of one or both the project result in switched priorities.
Multiple priorities: All projects have multiple challenges that are or may become priorities. Where a project manager is faced with multiple priorities, it is of paramount importance that he/she identifies and rate the priorities in the order from most important to least important. This must be done in writing and stuck to your office wall. If this is not done you will lose track of some of the priorities and those will haunt you and the project until closeout.

This “reason for project failure” is, as stated, extremely wide and we can prepare pages and pages of examples, some of which may even be more relevant than the ones identified herein above. That is not the purpose of this blog. The purpose is to think about these challenges when you plan for your next big project.

What examples of switching priorities do you have that you would like to share. Please share with us all so that we can all learn from it. We find the feedback interesting and we appreciate the time you take in commenting. You can contact us at Info@vinculaholding.com or vists our website at https://vinculaholdings.com/

Enjoy the Friday and weekend.

Why do Projects fail – THE REAL REASONS – Blog 1

by Vincula Holdings | Feb 19, 2026 | Business, Latest News, Projects

Over the years many reasons have been forwarded as “the reasons why projects fail”. We at Vincula considered these reasons in 2024 and we reviewed the stated reasons again now early in 2026 to see if the “reasons” remained the same or whether the reason for project failures changed

Method: For each time period we considered five or six articles providing the top reasons for project failure. Some articles provided ten reasons whilst others provided seven or twenty. The 2026 group had additional reasons provided, not found in the 2024 group Vincula considered. The top four reasons for each time period were extracted and are reflected in this article. This is not an in-depth study, however, the results are interesting enough to warrant a large-scale, in-depth study, which Vincula will do and share with you all in due course.

From the above it is clear that the reasons for project failure changed. In 2024 the main reasons were (in no particular order)

Unclear goals and objectives
Lack of resource planning
Inadequate stakeholder management
Poor communication across the organization
Poor resource allocation.

In 2026 (very early in the year) the main reasons for project failure are:

Poor resource allocation
Unclear goals and objectives
Inexperienced project managers
Choice of technology

We shall visit some of these reasons for project failure in detail in the upcoming blogs.

We at Vincula consider another reason, not listed in the articles at all, as one of the biggest reasons for project failure. We shall reveal what we consider to be a major reason for project failure, in future blogs. See you next Friday and enjoy the weekend.