🔍 Transparency - the underestimated success factor in major projects
When projects fail, people often look for those responsible:
"The supplier delivered too late."
"The coordination was poor."
"The schedule was too ambitious."
But the actual truth is often much simpler - and at the same time much harder:
👉 There is a lack of transparency.
Not just a little.
But fundamentally.
About progress. About deviations. About responsibilities. About risks.
And if there is a lack of transparency, the same thing always happens:
Errors remain undetected for longer. Decisions are made too late. And problems continue to develop undisturbed in the background - until they become real flashpoints.
🧩 Why transparency is lost so quickly in large-scale projects
Large-scale projects - whether in plant engineering, vehicle construction or energy projects - are giants:
Many trades, many partners, many dependencies.
And this is precisely why transparency gaps occur faster than you would like:
1. data is everywhere - just not where you need it.
Excel, PDF, email, Whatsapp, SharePoint, paper lists...
You know the drill.
You also know that no one can keep track of everything.
2. everyone works in their own system - or without a system at all.
Suppliers send Excel lists.
The internal team maintains a Kanban board.
The site manager prefers to write in a notebook.
Result: version chaos.
3. the project status is felt - not measured.
There are progress reports.
Reports.
Jour fixes.
But: Often everything is based on subjective assessments - not on objective, consistent data.
4. deviations become visible too late.
And by the time a problem becomes visible, it is usually already expensive.
💸 The cost of a lack of transparency: much higher than expected
Some project managers think:
"It's not that bad... we can handle it."
But intransparency is a real cost multiplier.
Here are a few hard facts:
✔ 30 % additional effort
due to inquiries, searches, double entries, meetings.
(Source: PMI Pulse of the Profession)
✔ 50-70% of all delays
occur because deviations are identified too late.
(Source: McKinsey Global Construction Productivity Study)
✔ 15 % budget overruns on average
due to a lack of transparency in construction and plant engineering.
(Source: EY Infrastructure Report)
And the worst thing:
Many of these costs are avoidable. In full.
📉 How a lack of transparency derails projects
Here are the most common mechanisms I observe in projects around the world:
❌ Problems remain invisible
A supplier is late.
Nobody notices.
Construction comes to a standstill two weeks later.
❌ Stakeholders lose trust
There are different statuses.
Different reports.
Different truths.
❌ Decisions are made too late
If information is missing, decisions are inevitably delayed.
And every delay costs money.
❌ Claims and disputes pile up
"Who was to blame?" becomes a fundamental discussion - instead of "How do we solve it?"
🚀 How to create real transparency in major projects
Transparency doesn't come from more meetings.
Not through bigger Excel sheets.
Not through more reporting.
Transparency is created by a single principle:
👉 All relevant data must come together in one system - in real time.
And that means:
1. a central data room instead of data silos
One place.
One truth.
For all stakeholders.
2. clear responsibilities
Who is responsible for which work step?
Who reports progress?
Who confirms acceptances?
Transparency needs clarity.
3. live progress reports instead of weekly reports
When something is done, the entire project team sees it immediately.
4. automatic deviation logic
If something doesn't go as planned, everyone knows about it - before it gets expensive.
5. visual transparency instead of table chaos
Project managers don't need a jumble of Excel figures.
They need a dashboard that shows immediately:
-
What is green?
-
What is yellow?
-
What's on fire?
🧠 The digital project twin: transparency rethought
Many companies still rely on a "digital twin" of the system.
But:
This doesn't solve the core problem in project management.
Instead, you need:
👉 A digital twin of your project.
That means:
-
Every step of the project is digitally mapped
-
Every activity is assigned to an object
-
Every deviation is documented
-
Every responsibility is defined
-
Every status is transparent
A project twin brings clarity where there was previously darkness.
🎯 Conclusion: Transparency is not a luxury - it is the lifeblood of successful projects
Projects rarely fail because of technology.
They rarely fail because of competence.
They rarely fail due to motivation.
They fail due to a lack of visibility.
And this is precisely why transparency is the most powerful tool you can have in project management - to
to make decisions faster, recognize mistakes earlier and bring projects safely to the finish line.
