There are a lot of ways to look at and measure success on a project. Some are easy, and some are not so easy. Some key yardsticks for success are:

 

 

 

 

 

 





     
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  • Was the project on budget?




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  • Was the project on time?




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  • Was the customer satisfied?




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  • Did the project deliver a usable solution?




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I’m sure there are others, but these are four of the main questions a CEO might as you, as the Project Manager, once the project is over if he/she is trying to gauge project success. Over this four-part series I want to take a look at each of these and how we might measure these and some of the things we can do on our project to help ensure that we can answer ‘yes’ to the CEO for each of these questions. For this first installment, I want to look at how we can go about ensuring that our project is on budget.

 

 

 

 

Ensuring Your Project is On-Budget

 

 

 

 

There are no guarantees in life and that definitely goes for ensuring that your project finishes on budget. However, there are some things we can do along the way in managing the project, the project scope, and the customer to help keep our project on track financially.

 

 

 

 

Manage Scope with an Iron Fist

 

 

 

 

This sounds over the top…and it is. Scope changes…it always does. Requirements change, the customer’s preferences change, what technology will allow changes sometimes during a project, personnel change. Many things can affect the project scope during the course of an engagement and most are really out of our control. All we can do is watch the scope like a hawk. As the PM, we need to have a good high-level view of the project scope and Statement of Work and know what should and should not be part of the engagement.

 

 

 

 

However, we must also rely on our skilled delivery team members who are likely more technically competent (or at least more up-to-date) than we are to be aware of things that are really not within the agreed upon scope for the project. If something is out of scope, yet necessary, draft a change order and present it to the customer. If they need it, they’ll sign. This act not only keeps the budget on track (because you end up not doing free work and running out of budget) but it also increases the revenue and, likely, the profitability of your project.

 

 

 

 

Forecast Resources Carefully

 

 

 

 

Forecast your skilled, valuable, and costly resources carefully. Weekly management of your project resources, what they’re working on and what skill set you’re going to need next week and next month will also help to keep your project budget on track.

 

 

 

 

As I’ve said in previous posts…your resources usually have several projects they’re working on at any given time. They have to charge their time somewhere (and very few of us really track our time accurately every hour of every day). If you are the PM who is not watching their resources’ project hours and tasks closely, then you’re likely going to be the PM who’s project gets some filler hours charged to it. If they know you’re watching it closely, it won’t happen…trust me.

 

 

 

 

It also just makes good sense to know what you need when. That way when you are truly done with a skilled and expensive resource, you can cut them loose and keep them from charging time to your project when it’s not necessary.

 

 

 

 

Perform Project Budget Management Weekly

 

 

 

 

Just like managing and forecasting the resources weekly, we must also forecast and manage the project budget weekly. They do go hand in hand somewhat, but they are also still two different animals. Knowing where your project budget stands every week as well as what it looks like for the rest of the project with your forecasted resource hours applied will help you foresee any budgeting issues down the road.

 

 

 

 

Identifying any issues early could help you correct the situation before it becomes a problem and it will also significantly help to maintain customer satisfaction at a high level if the customer is made aware of any potential issues before they occur. Remember, customers are happier when they can help solve issues rather than just end up paying for them.

 

 

 

 

In the next installment in this series, we’ll discuss keeping the project schedule on track.