I found two types of capital projects the most challenging to implement:
- SHE (Safety Health and Environment) Projects: Usually due to difficulties finding, justifying and then applying new technology
- New Offices: Usually due to trying to accommodate the many different personal expectations of office workers
These challenging projects can unravel quickly if not watched closely. They need tighter controls, stronger communication, and proactive issue management. Don’t assume standard processes are enough—apply extra discipline in monitoring scope, cost, and schedule. Anticipate problems early, act fast, and keep leadership engaged. Vigilance is the difference between recovery and runaway failure.
Capex’s for production and productivity reasons, with clear business cases and financial paybacks, were a lot more straightforward.