The OTR GroupWhether a team is launching a product, moving premises or running a programme of change, the same questions come up: what are we trying to achieve, who is responsible, and how will we know if it is going off course? The Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA) publishes Principles for Project Success, a short government guide written for major public projects. Its eight principles are just as useful for a small team.
1. Focus on outcomes
Define the outcomes you want, and who commissioned them, before you start. The guide says these should shape decisions on scope, time, cost, risk and design. In practice: write one sentence describing what will be different when the work is done, and test every later decision against it.
2. Plan realistically
Do thorough planning up front, use evidence-based estimates, and express estimates as ranges that narrow as certainty grows. A single confident number early on is rarely honest; a range with stated assumptions usually is.
3. Prioritise people and behaviour
Build a capable, well-resourced team and make clear who is accountable for what. Agreeing delivery structures, internal and external, and checking they work as expected, is part of this principle.
4. Tell it like it is
Encourage open reporting and challenge, and act quickly when something is not working. A short weekly note covering progress, risks and decisions needed makes it easier for problems to surface early.
5. Control scope
Fix scope at the start and manage change strictly. The guide recommends working in manageable stages with decision points, so the team can pause and confirm the project is still viable. It also says a project should be stopped if its benefits and outcomes no longer appear deliverable or affordable. Stopping can be the right result, not a failure.
6. Manage complexity and risk
Reduce complexity where you can, plan for what remains, and manage dependencies and integration. The guide asks teams to plan for operational change, including the operating context and boundaries with partners, and to test that elements work together at each stage and that the outcome works for users.
7. Be an intelligent client
Understand user needs, involve the supply chain early and build collaborative relationships. If you rely on suppliers or partners, bring them into the conversation before the plan is fixed, not after.
8. Learn from experience
Draw on past projects, bring in independent views and capture lessons throughout the life of the project, not only at the end. A short review at each stage is more useful than a long report written from memory afterwards.
Putting it to work
You do not need a large process to use these ideas. A simple one-page project brief can cover most of them: the outcome, the owner, the stages, the main risks, the people and suppliers involved, and a date to review what has been learned. Give every task an owner, a date and a definition of done, and keep a log of what you would do differently next time.
The guide was written for government, so adapt it to your own scale and sector. Treat it as a checklist of good questions rather than a rulebook.
Source: Infrastructure and Projects Authority, Principles for Project Success (GOV.UK). This article is general information, not professional advice.