Every organization has one. The project that started with enthusiasm, buy-in, a great launch meeting, and a well-designed slide deck, but then months go by, and years later, it is still tagging along with no clear purpose. No one remembers why it started, and no one wants to admit it might not be working. Welcome to the world of the zombie project, the initiative that refuses to die.
A Zombie project is something that continues to consume employees’ time, resources, and energy while providing little to no meaningful value to the organization. Oftentimes, these are projects with no clear end goals, due dates, or measurable outcomes. They waste time, cause burnout, and strain strategic focus.
Like any good Zombie story, the projects don’t usually start out this way. Organizations begin with good intentions, but there are common causes that can lead to a project's demise. Senior leaders may be hesitant to abandon a project that has already been invested in for fear of wasting money or that cancelling the project may be viewed as a failure. Sometimes the cause can be as simple as leaders losing track of projects and having no formal review checkpoints or accountability.
Regardless of the reason these projects turn into zombies. Zombie projects can end up costing organizations more in the long run by wasting resources on ineffective programs and causing turmoil for employee engagement and satisfaction. Employees may become frustrated and disengaged when dealing with these projects, which could lead to burnout from the unnecessary workload and reduced innovation. The ambiguity of zombie projects can create competing priorities and unclear expectations that ultimately affect productivity.
There are some warning signs to look for so you can spot these zombie projects and stop them before it's too late. If the project goal hasn’t been revisited in over a year and there are no clear metrics for success, then it may be time to reevaluate. Are team members struggling to explain the project’s purpose or benefit? If they are, there is a good chance it has turned into a zombie project. One thing you may observe is that managers and leaders rarely discuss these projects, but the work continues, usually with little direction. These items usually only survive through habit or legacy; teams only work on them “because they always have.”
Once you have identified a zombie project, there are some ways you can put it to rest and prevent more from popping up in the future. Start by encouraging clear goal-setting and accountability and promote regular project reviews. Help managers facilitate conversations about prioritization of projects and workload, and support leaders to create a culture where ending a project is not seen as a failure, but a learning experience and data.
Implementing sunset reviews of long-running initiatives is a good way to start this support. You can also require defined success metrics and indicators, and encourage teams to ask questions like: Who owns this project? Does it still support business goals? If we weren’t doing this today, would we still start it? Getting employees to think more strategically and critically about projects can help streamline which ones should be discontinued.
We may be far from Halloween, but not getting a hold of your zombie projects and putting them to bed is scary for HR, leadership, and the larger organization. The key to managing these projects is identifying them and then preventing poor project planning and completion in the future.
Sources: Atlassian.com; hrexecutive.com