Using the Troubled Project Recovery Framework: Problem Recognition and Decision to Recover

Information system development projects continue to be delivered significantly behind sched-ule, drastically over budget and without meeting specifications. To improve the likelihood of success for these projects, we propose a staged framework for recovery and rehabilitation. This framework is composed of four stages that include twelve steps. The four stages are recognition, immediate recovery, sustained recovery and maturity. We performed a field study to validate the first stage of the framework, the Recognition Stage. The results of the study indicate support for the steps of the Recognition Stage and provide detailed "symptoms" that could indicate trouble during an information system development project. These symptoms were logically categorized into eleven areas of interest to project managers: Client/Stakeholder, Goal, Meeting, Team, Task, Project, Project Management, Communication, Management, Project, and Process.