Key Factors of Project Success
by Sylvie Nina Thiam Size, PMP, ITIL
Introduction
The rise of social media tools (such as LinkedIN, Facebook, Google+) provides an excellent platform for Project Management practitioners the opportunity to network, collaborate and learn from each other. In particular, LinkedIN is a business-oriented social networking site that allows professionals to discuss about business issues. Besides changing the way business professionals communicate with each other, it has also created many opportunities for business people to conduct research on various topics related to their professions.
As project managers, we all are keen to know the secret recipe that will make our project a success. A project manager posted a question “What do you think is the most important factor that determines the success of a project and why?” on the Project Manager Network hosted on LinkedIN.com (LinkedIN.com, 2014). The topic prompted many project managers to post their comments on the discussion group. The purpose of this article is to present the results of the analysis of comments by the project managers.
Project Success
“As Project Manager, juggling all of the balls is important, but keeping your eye on the right ball is the key to delivering truly successful projects”
– Robert Goatham
PMBOK (PMI, 2013, p. 35) defined project success as follows:
Since projects are temporary in nature, the success of the project should be measured in terms of completing the project within the constraints of scope, time, cost, quality, resources, and risk as approved between the project managers and senior management.
The project manager is responsible and accountable for setting realistic and achievable boundaries for the project and to accomplish the project within the approved baselines. The success of the project will depend on how well project time, cost, scope and quality meet the requirements established at the beginning of the project.
Additionally, business related outcomes such as those listed below can also be used as criteria to judge the success of a project:
- Stakeholder and customer satisfaction;
- Meeting business case objectives;
- Customer/end-user adoption;
- Quality of delivery;
- Meeting governance criteria; and
- Benefits realization.
Project success is defined in terms of how well these quantitative and qualitative measures of project outcome are met.
Methodology & Findings
The data analyzed in this article is based on a LinkedIN group discussion on “What do you think is the most important factor that determines the success of a project and why?” One hundred and ninety (190) comments posted by project managers between January 19, 2014 and February 11, 2014 were selected for analysis.
Each of the comments selected is then analyzed to identify the key factor for project success mentioned by the contributor.
The results of the analyze is summarized in the following figure:
Key Factors of Project Success
The result of the analysis is very much in line with the expectation of the project managers. The top 5 factors that contribute to project success are:
- Accurate scope;
- Good communication;
- Team building;
- Leadership & soft-skills; and
- Detailed plan.
Selected comments from the project manager network on these five key factors are listed below:
Accurate Scope
Stephen W. (Steve) Maas, MBA, MPM, PMP, Project Manager at ENGlobal:
“There is one item if you don't do it right it doesn't make any difference, because too many things are dependent upon it. From my perspective it's the well and completely defined scope. If the scope isn't defined properly, the WBS is wrong, and the schedule is wrong and the cost is wrong. In other words, your Project Plan is wrong. If the scope is ill defined, how do we know we're going down the right path? We don't. We're wasting time and resources and we still don't know if what we are doing meets the needs of the project. Everything about the project depends on the scope - schedule, cost, resource requirements, quality requirements, risk management.
There will be bumps along the way, trying to recover to get back on the right path. Know any PMs that deliberately want to run into bumps? I don't. Will there be, probably. But fewer bumps will make for a more successful project, at least to my way of thinking. Maybe because I've seen my share of poorly defined scopes, mostly by inexperienced client PMs.”
Good Communication
Sally Cavanagh, Director - Altogether Better Limited:
“Why is communication the most important factor? Because effective communication includes careful active listening, great negotiation skills and excellent writing skills.
Effective communication skills underpin all aspects of decision-making in the project delivery process, from surfacing and agreeing expectations, establishing lines of accountability and limits of authority, pulling a business case together, scoping the project accurately, defining the successful outcomes for the project and how these will be measured, defining the products to be made, their development, testing and quality tolerance, problem solving, risk and change management, and any processes for product handover and project 'aftercare.'
As PM, if others are not communicating effectively you have a responsibility to ensure that you give and get the information needed in a timely way and need that you consistently adhere reporting protocols yourself and that others do too, especially where emerging risks and quality issues are identified.”
Team Building
Luis HUERTAS, PMP, MBA, Project Manager at DUKE ENERGY:
“CLARITY of understanding and communicating expectations, division of responsibilities and scope split, and definition of roles. BECAUSE a project is an endeavor better suited for team work in synergistic coordination.”
Leadership & soft skills
Ravi Shanker, Application Architect at Motorola Solutions
“I think I will vote for an intangible - leadership.
Leadership is critical in providing focus and guidance. No project will succeed if run by committee.
If "everybody" is responsible for the success of a project, nobody will be.”
Detailed Plan
Jenel Thompson, Project and Procurement Management AAPM & CIPM
“It basically comes back to the initial project plan and how well it defines the project goals, objectives and purpose. If you can't have a proper project plan you can't assign the proper tools, manpower, set a proper budget or even properly mitigate issues arising during the project in-order to provide positive feedback to the main stakeholder (s)”
Conclusion
This studies clearly shows that there is no silver lining on project success. Project Management Professionals should look at the project as a whole system. Processes are linked together and the project is as strong as one's weakest link. It is therefore critical that the weakest link is not one of the important factors identified in this article. The comments are lifted directly from the post and not modified so you could enjoy them in their raw splendor ...
About the Author
Sylvie Nina Thiam Size is an IT and Project Management professional with over 10 years of working experience. She started her career as an IT professional in Cameroon and since then has held various management and consulting positions in the IT & Project Management arena in Africa. Sylvie is also very passionate about volunteering her service for social goods and sharing her experience with fellow professionals. She currently lives in Singapore and is a member of PMI Singapore Chapter.
Works Cited
Retrieved 4 17, 2014, from LinkedIN.com: http://www.linkedin.com/groups/What-do-you-think-is-37888%2ES%2E5830747378151350274?view=&srchtype=discussedNews&gid=37888&item=5830747378151350274&type=member&trk=eml-anet_dig-b_pd-ttl-cn&fromEmail=&ut=0gtNbxkC5uNC41
PMI. (2013). A Guide To The Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide) (5th Edition ed.). Newtown Square, Pennsylvania , USA: Project Management Institute.