Avoiding "black swan" Drupal disasters

Posted on 2nd Mar 2026
Takes about 1 min to read
Hey, you seem to look at this article a lot! Why not Bookmark this article so you can find it easily in the future?

Many of us with even a little project management experience have heard about the fabled "black swan" IT projects, going 300% over budget and crashing to the ground.

But what do you do if that's your project?

Certainly, we know well that it's not necessarily appropriate to just throw "more" resource at the problem - and especially if it's becoming apparent that the resource you have might not be sufficiently capable.

So, some quick thoughts on supporting key stakeholders working on your project

Rescuing a Drupal project

Boost your Project Management

Management teams that can't get straight, reliable answers will continue to go round the pain cycle. If you're asking the right questions, and getting seemingly valid answers, but again and again the timings and deliverables continue to quickly slide, you need to change your process.

There can be huge value in bringing external consultation to your project. Fresh eyes, different experiences and a positive mindset can get you the insights and suggestions you need to turn things around.

Remember that you're working on a Drupal project, so specific consultation for your project, rather than generic project or business acumen, may bring better clarity and better responses than you've found so far (even ChatGPT has its limitations!). Consider searching for some Drupal expertise - not just more PRINCE2 certificate holders.

Boost your Dev Team

Sometimes the deeper customisations ask a lot of your development team. Whether they're in-house or four whole levels of awkwardly outsourced, all teams have their limits.

It can, though, seem intimidating to bring external developers or consultants on board, both for you as management and for your development team. What if they still fail? What if too many feathers get ruffled?

Ultimately, the success of your project demands a successful team, and it's up to you to supply the support that they need (Whether they realise it or not!).

Ask for help

If you need things to change soon and quickly, consider contacting us!

We offer Project Consultancy to directly support management teams, Site Audits for clients needing to better understand their site situation, and Drupal Project Rescue for serious project interventions.

Plus, our friendly Minds are great at coaching, mentoring and pair coding, bringing experience alongside your team. Or they can be available for hire as temporary or permanent additional dev resource.

 

n.b. We also posted a variation of this article on our LinkedIn profile

Published in:
Article

Drupal project rescue

Not all Drupal projects go to plan, the Joker is sneaky like that! CM can help get things back on track, whatever your project’s situation.

Read the article

Hi, thanks for reading

ComputerMinds are the UK’s Drupal specialists with offices in Bristol and Coventry. We offer a range of Drupal services including Consultancy, Development, Training and Support. Whatever your Drupal problem, we can help.