Ein Death March Projekt wird definiert als ein Projekt, bei welchem nach einer objektiven Risikoanalyse eine Fehlerwahrscheinlichkeit von unter 50% vorliegt. Ein Projekt liegt grundsätzlich im Knoten aller vier Quadranten.

“The horizontal axis indicates the likelihood of the project succeeding from low (on the left) to high. the vertical axis indicates the team member’s satisfaction of working on the project.”

Mission Impossible: High happiness and high chance of success. The team is fanatically loyal to each other, thrives on the challenge, and enjoys “living on the edge”. The team dreams of fame, glory, and riches if it succeeds.

Ugly: Low happiness and high chance of success. Projects where the project manager sacrifices the team members to bring the project to a successful completion. The key characteristic is that the project manager is determined to succeed and profit from the project. He or she is willing to sacrifice the team members health and happiness if necessary to achieve the goal.

Suicide: Low happiness and low chance of success. In a suicide project, everyone is miserable. The project is doomed to failure but the team keeps working on it to maintain their employment. The team knows from the outset that the project has no chance of success.

Kamikaze: High happiness and low chance of success. These projects are doomed to fail gloriously! Team members may be attracted to a kamikaze project by the chance to work with an advanced technology. Often this is a “save the company” project that is unlikely to succeed, but the team feels it must try.

Quelle: Edward Yourdon, Death March http://www.yourdon.com

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