One of the project manager's responsibilities involves constant evaluation and control throughout the life of the project. In other words, the PM must know exactly where the project stands at various points in the life of the project. Such project control involves setting goals, measuring progress, comparing progress with plans, and correcting any problems or deviations from the plans.
It is relatively easy to determine if a project is on budget or not, or if a piece of equipment is functioning properly. However, behavior or human process factors are more difficult to measure. These factors tremendously affect project success.
These success factors are referred to as a Project Implementation Profile (PIP). There are ten factors in PIP: (1) project mission, (2) top management support, (3) project plans and schedules, (4) client consultation, (5) personnel, (6) technical tasks, (7) client acceptance, (8) monitoring and feedback, (9) communication, and (10) troubleshooting.
These success factors can apply to any project setting and type.
Consider a project with which you were or are involved and respond to these points:
- Identify and describe the project with which you were or are involved.
- Name which of the ten critical success factors that emerged in this project.
- Evaluate and explain how each of these factors affected the success of the project.
- As the project manager, what steps would you take to better control this "human" side of project management?
- How could you use milestones and/or Earned Value Management as a measure of success in this project?