Running head: MEASURING PROJECT SUCCESS 1

Measuring Project Success

Lindsay Snowden
Arizona State University
April 15, 2018
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Measuring Project Success

Introduction

How does a project manager measure project success? Project-Management dot com

suggests that it “comes down to four [qualities]: on time delivery, on budget delivery, quality of

the final solution, and customer satisfaction” (Egeland, 2018). Another article, written by the

Project Management Institute’s (PMI) Mark Langley (2013), “finds that performance in meeting

project goals, timelines and budgets significantly impacts an organization’s ability to thrive” (p.

3). Meanwhile, Kim Heldman (2005) highlights the significance of scope, schedule, and budget

in terms of project success, as well as the importance of having a change management plan in

order to reduce the risk of project failure. While there seems to be several interpretations of what

it means for a project to be successful, Egeland mentions that in a 2017 PMI study, only 14% of

projects were deemed unsuccessful. Of the projects considered successful, a large percentage of

them did not even complete their project within the timeline, cost, or scope goals (2018).

So, this begs the question: what is project success then? Egeland suggests that the

parameters for project success are subjective. Though there are “hard measurable facts” that can

be used to imply success, ultimately, he says, “it will be a matter of perception” (Egeland 2018).

Despite this interpretation, that project success is subjective, it’s still important to consider the

elements that are vital to success.

Time

Every project has a deadline. Though oftentimes the deadlines are set by upper management, it is

possible that the project manager may deliver a probable deadline through a charter. Regardless

of who sets the deadline, it can be an inherent key to success. Brad Egeland (2013) makes a few
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suggestions as how to deal with needing adjustments to deadlines. If it’s a fixed deadline, he

suggests negotiating the scope, adding additional resources, or working out a due-date extension

(Egeland, 2013). If the deadline is not rigid, Egeland suggests outsourcing the work, re-

prioritizing the tasks, asking for an extension, or finding resources that may be a better fit (2013).

Either way, the best way to get ahead of an impending deadline, he proposes, is to start as early

as possible on the project (Egeland, 2013).

In Scenario D of the Harvard simulation, there is both a rigid deadline and a rigid budget.

It seemed near impossible to stay within both goals on this project. In order to meet the deadline

more employees are needed to get ahead on the work. However, this throws the budget out the

window. In the end, I decided the deadline was more important and went over budget in order to

complete the project on time. Even though the project cost more than what management

expected to spend, my highest scores occurred when I was able to complete the project either on-

time, or ahead of schedule. To me, this was an indication that meeting a deadline can heavily

influence the perception of success on a project.

Cost

Every project has a budget. Though a budget may be rigid, perhaps it is possible that it

might be more flexible than deadlines. While Heldman (2005) suggests that the budget plays just

as vital of a role as scope and schedule, she points out that “if you’ve done a good job planning,

you’ll know before you begin the work of the project if the budget is sufficient” (p. 2). Hinting

that the budget may be more of a predictable factor in projects, she goes on to focus more on the

aspects that tend to fluctuate more during a project: scope and schedule.
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The idea that effective planning can accurately predict a budget is not something that the

Harvard simulation capitalizes on. In fact, the budget within the simulation is very flexible and

has no cap. With minimal planning, a player is able to monitor the budget and predict when it

will dip under or hop over the planned budget. Being able to track it throughout a scenario helps

the player monitor the overall cost of the project. However, what I’ve found from playing

through each scenario is that even by going over the budget, you are still able to achieve a high

score. However, a perfect score would entail staying both within the budget and the deadline.

This is an indication to me that perhaps the budget is, while important, not the most important

indicator of success during a project.

Scope

Every project has a scope. The scope of a project will help determine the resources, the

budget, the tasks, goals, and the timeline of a project (among other aspects). In chapter 4,

Heldman (2005) drives home to importance of creating a scope statement in order to document

“the project’s goals, deliverables, and requirements of the project” (p. 2). Because changes to the

scope of the project can occur due to requests from the stakeholders, this statement serves as a

“baseline for future project decisions” (Heldman, 2005, p. 2), and helps to maintain the scope

while also reducing the risk of scope creep.

Scope creep is not something I’ve experienced in the Harvard simulations yet. Changes in

the deliverables is not something that has come up yet, though it still could. Changing the

parameters of a project could impact the type and number of team members required to meet the

goals. It could also affect the resources require, the budget, and (obviously) the timeline. Though

making the customer (or stakeholders) happy is crucial to the success of a project, there must be

limits to changes in the scope of a project in order to prevent scope creep.

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Customer Satisfaction

Every project has customers, or stakeholders. Though a project may have stayed within

the scope, finished on time, and within the budget, Egeland (2018) suggests that “at the end of

the day, success or failure on a project is more about how you feel about how the project

progressed and how satisfied the customer is with the end result.” While staying within the

parameters of a project are vastly important, aspects such as clear communication with the

customer, meeting the customers wants and needs, and delivering a quality project all play a vital

role as well. If all went according to plan but the end result does not meet the satisfaction of the

stakeholder, then the project was not a success. This factor is just as important to consider during

project management as other criteria.

Conclusion

In conclusion, while there are many factors that influence the “success” of a

project, ultimately it is up to the customer to decide if the project was truly successful or not.
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References

Egeland, B. (2013, June 20). Adjusting the Project Schedule. Retrieved April 16, 2018, from

http://blog.aecsoftware.com/adjusting-the-project-schedule/

Egeland, B. (2018, February 13). Measuring Project Success. Retrieved April 13, 2018, from

https://project-management.com/measuring-project-success/

Heldman, K. (2005). Project managers spotlight on risk management. San Francisco, CA:

SYBEX.

Langley, M. A. (2013, March). PMI’s Pulse of the Profession™ The High Cost of Low

Performance. Retrieved April 12, 2018, from https://www.pmi.org/-

/media/pmi/documents/public/pdf/learning/thought-leadership/pulse/pulse-of-the-

profession-2013.pdf