Why IT Projects Fail — And the 3 Communication Gaps That Cause It

In my 20 years in IT, I’ve seen many patterns that explain why IT projects fail — and most of them have little to do with code quality.

I still remember a project from about 12 years ago that looked perfect on paper.

We had a good client, a capable team, clear timelines, and all the right tools. The kick-off meeting went well — everyone was confident, and there was that early-project optimism where you think, "This one will be smooth."

It wasn’t.

By month four, we were already behind schedule. The client was unhappy, and my team was putting in late nights just to catch up.

No major bugs. No huge technical failures. No shortage of resources.

The real problem? Communication gaps in IT projects.

That project in particular made me notice three very common communication gaps. I see them in many IT projects, and unless they’re fixed early, they cost time, money, and trust.

1) The Business-to-Tech Gap

What it is:
When requirements are unclear, incomplete, or misunderstood before they reach the development team.

What happened in my project:
The client’s requirement said:

"System should allow dynamic configuration of pricing rules."

When I asked, "What exactly do you mean by dynamic?" they replied, "You know… so the business team can change rules easily."

That word "dynamic" went into the dev team’s hands. They assumed it meant a fully functional admin panel with rule creation, scheduling, and approval workflows. Three weeks of coding later, the demo left the client confused — they had only wanted a simple CSV upload option.

Three weeks of wasted work. Team morale took a hit.

What I do now:

• Never accept vague words like "dynamic" or "flexible" without examples.
• Repeat back the requirement in plain language and confirm: "So the business will upload a CSV and the system will process it instantly?"
• Whenever possible, use a quick wireframe or mini-prototype before coding.

Strong business to tech communication ensures that requirements are not just documented, but fully understood before coding starts.

2) The Tech-to-Business Gap

What it is:
When technical updates don’t clearly show the business impact.

What happened in my project:
On a status call, a developer told the client:

"We’ve implemented the custom ORM layer and optimized query caching. API latency is down by 70 milliseconds."

The client nodded politely, then asked me later: "So… does that mean the pricing feature is ready?"

They didn’t care about ORM layers. They wanted to know if their problem was solved.

What I do now:

• Lead with business impact. Instead of "Latency down by 70 ms", say "Your customers will now see search results instantly."
• In every update, clearly mark what’s done, what’s in progress, and how it matters to the business.

3) The Internal Tech Gap

What it is:
When teams working on related modules don’t share changes properly.

What happened in my project:
One team updated how discounts were calculated. They didn’t tell the team building the customer dashboard.

When we integrated, the dashboard was still showing old discounts. Two weeks of rework followed.

We were all in the same office — but without a habit of sharing small but important changes.

What I do now:

• Make "no silent changes" a rule. If something could impact another module, it must be announced.
• Use a single shared, always-updated place for technical notes.
• Ask before merging: "Who else needs to know about this change?"

The Silent Cost of These Gaps

These problems don’t show up as "blockers" in Jira. They’re invisible until the damage is done.

In that project, the cost was:

• 6 weeks of lost development time.
• Client trust that took months to rebuild.
• A tired, frustrated team.

IT Project Management Best Practices: The C.A.R.E. Framework

Over the years, I’ve built my own set of IT project management best practices to close gaps before they become costly problems. One of the most effective is something I call the C.A.R.E. framework for IT projects — it works for both project managers and developers:

• Clarify — Rephrase requirements in plain language, confirm with the client, ask for examples.
• Align — Make sure business goals and tech tasks match. No "tech for tech’s sake."
• Report in Business Terms — Always link technical progress to business value in updates.
• Exchange Knowledge — Keep all team members informed about changes, dependencies, and decisions.

It’s worth running your next project through the C.A.R.E. lens — it helps spot and fix gaps before they grow.

Final Thoughts

That failed project taught me something I’ve seen repeated many times since: in IT, it’s rarely the code that sinks a project. It’s the conversation that didn’t happen, the assumption no one checked, or the detail that never got shared.

Closing these gaps isn’t about more meetings or more talk — it’s about saying the right things, to the right people, at the right time.

In the end, even the best technology works only when people truly understand each other.

💬 Let’s Connect
Enjoyed this article or have a perspective to share? Let’s connect on LinkedIn.