The impact of project management heuristics to IS projects

Formal project management is vital to the effective application of organizational resources to competing demands within and across projects. The use of project management, however, is predicated upon valid and accurate project specifications. The introduction of biases into the formulation of these specifications can lead to compromised or even failed projects. In many cases, biases arise from the application of heuristics by project personnel. Project personnel can in many cases offset the impact of biases by recognizing and understanding these heuristics and their potential effects. This study surveys project personnel to attempt to identify heuristics and their use in actual IS projects.