Usually, when an IT project fails, management is the last to know. But eventually, like a fish left too long in the refrigerator, the failure becomes all too obvious. When the situation reaches that point, your only option is the IT equivalent of pulling everything out of the refrigerator and scrubbing it out with baking soda.

But it doesn't have to be that way. Conventional wisdom to the contrary, project management is getting better. More projects are succeeding, fewer projects are failing outright, and projects are returning more of the IT dollar invested.

Still, only about one-third of all projects are complete successes. Often, the difference between success and failure is spotting the critical early warning signs that a project is in trouble. Here's a quick look at some of the earliest symptoms that all is not right with your "fish"—and what you can do about it before you have to break out the baking soda.

A few pointers from the archive:

Out of the Dusty Labs

Failure is an essential part of the process. "The way you say this is: 'Please fail very quickly -- so that you can try again'," says Mr Schmidt.

As Silicon Valley Reboots, the Geeks Take Charge

The marketing plan, business model and sometimes the company itself die, but good technology tends to live on. Think of it as the biz/tech equivalent of the "selfish gene." ... "No one gets too torn up about [failure] in the valley."