Feedback on GIS Project Management Experiences


This survey aims to better understand the factors contributing to the long-term success or failure of GIS projects, based on your experience. The ultimate goal is to identify which choices support (or hinder) the sustainability of a project: whether in terms of functionality or organization (e.g., the ability of a project to be taken over by a new team).

It is intended for anyone who has been involved in a GIS or geomatics project, regardless of the organization type or output: map atlas, dashboard, business application, web map, etc.

The questionnaire is anonymous and takes approximately 5 minutes to complete.

Each completed form corresponds to a single GIS project. You may fill it out multiple times for different projects. If unsure, describing a project that failed often provides more valuable insights.

✱ =  Required question

 

1. Project Overview (non-identifying)

Summarize the project in one sentence: Example: “Web map for managing municipal equipment”. Can be vague if the project is confidential.
Project outcome:
Success
Failure (abandonment, suspension, forgotten)
Failure followed by a relaunch
Other: 
Type of lead organization:
Public (local/regional government: municipality, intermunicipal body, county, region)
Public (central government: ministry, national agency, deconcentrated service)
Private (company, consultancy)
Semi-public (joint syndicate, public enterprise, etc.)
Other: 
Project location: More or less precise, depending on confidentiality. Click on the map to add the location.
  • Latitude:
  • Longitude:
Approximate project duration: From its start to its end, or to today, if still active.
Less than 1 month
1 to 6 months
6 months to 1 year
1 to 3 years
3 to 5 years
More than 5 years
Your primary role at the beginning of the project:
GIS engineer /GIS analyst / internal GIS technician
Project manager / coordinator
External service provider / consultant
Member of a dedicated field (urban planning, environment, transport, etc.)
Decision-maker / elected official / executive
Other: 
Cross-functionality: number of different teams, fields or departments involved:
1 only
2 – 3
4 – 5
More than 5
Were there one or more steering committees (STEERCO)?
Yes
No
I don’t know
What was the level of understanding of GIS by non-GIS stakeholders? 1 = everything had to be explained; 5 = full understanding of the issues
1
2
3
4
5
No answer

2. Tools and Methods

Technical choices: (Multiple answers possible)
FOSS Software (e.g. QGIS, PostGIS…)
Proprietary solutions (e.g., ArcGIS, FME)
Open standards (OGC, GeoJSON, WMS)
Internal scripts / custom code
I don’t know / not involved technically
Was there documentation for the project?
Yes, structured and up-to-date
Yes, but unclear or outdated
No, or only informal documentation
I don’t know
Formats used for documentation and time-based records: (Multiple answers possible)
Office documents: Word, PDF, etc.
Email history, meeting minutes, internal notes
Internal wiki / Confluence
Tutorials
Code comments, README
Metadata catalog
Software “project” files (.qgz, .fmw, .aprx…) and geospatial data
None
Chosen project management method:
Agile - Scrum
Agile - Kanban
Waterfall / V-Model
PRINCE2
Lean / DevOps
None
I don’t know
Other:
Selected project management tools:
Jira / Jira Software
Trello
Monday.com
Microsoft Project
Asana
GitLab Issues / Boards (or GitHub Projects, and similar tools)
Spreadsheet (Excel, LibreOffice Calc, Google Sheets)
Basecamp / Notion / other collaborative platforms
No dedicated tool
Other:
What impact did the choices in this “Tools and Methods” section have on the internal sustainability of the project? 1 = very negative impact, 5 = neutral, 10 = very positive impact
  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Choice of technical approach (open-source, proprietary, etc.)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Choice of documentation format
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Choice of project management method
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Choice of project management tools
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

3. Human and Organizational Dynamics

Distribution of key roles in project oversight:
One key person led the project
Several people involved at first, then maintained by one
Several people involved continuously
Rotating responsibility
I don’t know
Other: 
Event or stakeholder that influenced success or failure: e.g. staff turnover, reorganization, etc.
Was the project resumed after one or more disruptions?
Not applicable (same team, project still active)
Yes, resumed smoothly
No, project was abandoned or stalled after disruptions
Other: 
In your opinion, what were the main factors of success or failure?
Organizational (management, HR, governance, etc.)
Budget-related
Technical (software choices, technical debt, infrastructure)
Human (skills, communication, ownership)
Contextual / political (election cycles, emergencies, timing)
Other

4. Summary and Reflections

In your view, what makes GIS project management distinct from traditional IT projects?
If you could share just one piece of advice with the community for successful GIS project management, what would it be?
Would you like to receive a link to the web map of results when it is published?
No
Yes, email address: 
GDPR notice: Email addresses will only be used to send the map link and will be deleted afterward. If you believe this project could serve as a case study, feel free to contact me at: research@erw.one. I would be happy to hear more about your experiences.