I had just been promoted to Managing Consultant. Alongside billable hours, my responsibilities included team leadership, project delivery, sales, and recruiting.

All consultants on my team were fully allocated. When one consultant resigned, I had to take over his two clients.

Both clients were satisfied — the projects were about 95% done. Foreshadowing 🫣

All that remained was to apply the finishing touches before going live.

This story was modified to protect individuals and companies.

Both client projects were data analysis initiatives and were similar in that:

1. All deadlines had been met throughout the project.
2. The projects had been running for over six months without putting results in the hands of end users.
3. There were dependencies on departments that weren’t fully onboard with the project.
4. Only the finishing touches remained before the projects could be considered complete.

I couldn't seem to finish the projects.

Every time I fixed one thing, another issue popped up.

There were still a few things that hadn't been agreed upon with the client's department that managed the servers. We couldn't seem to agree on what to do.

Some of the deliverables were not fully agreed upon, leading to disagreements among different people within the client's company.

The clients felt betrayed, with no clear explanation for the failure.

This was the first time I realized that 'nearly done' can be a trap — but it was neither the first nor the last time I fell into it. I see people falling into this trap all the time, so this article is a way to help you recognize the danger, act accordingly, and take timely action.

Deadlines being met is not a good proxy for a project success.

When you set a deadline for a task or project before it begins, you're making a decision about how to solve the issue at the point when you have the least information about it.

A project that has met too many deadlines is a red flag in itself because it means:

• The deadlines were not aggressive enough when they were set.
• Decisions about which tasks to complete were made at the point when you had the least information, and no course correction was made later.
• There was some form of punishment for missing deadlines, leading people to often hide issues.

This should be a red flag in most IT projects.

Most IT projects should provide some value to the business within the first few days, weeks, or months.

Important: Of course, there are some IT projects that take more than six months. However, even in these cases, it is crucial to involve the business as much as possible and ensure they can access new features every week or month.

Pushback is inevitable in any large IT project.

A rookie mistake is trying to silence pushback by, for example, going over people's heads, punishing it, or simply ignoring it.

There is always a reason for pushback. If you don't address it, it will resurface at some point — often at the end of the project. This is why a 'nearly done' project is still at risk if pushback hasn't been properly handled.

This, again, is a red flag.

You should always ask: if it's so close to being done, why isn't it done?

The 95% Done Trap is something you need to watch for — it's unbelievably common in IT projects. For the sake of your career and sanity, recognizing the signs early allows you to take action and avoid the blame for a failed project landing on your shoulders.

The 95% Done Trap is particularly devastating for newly promoted leaders. Stakeholders believe the project is on track, but as soon as you take over, the cracks start to show. If you can spot the trap in time, you may still have a chance to take corrective steps and prevent disaster.