There are hard facts to measure the success of a project. The first is time and if you were able to manage your project in the foreseen timeframe it’s a success – that’s clear. The second factor is budget. Keeping the budget is a success factor in any case. The third factor is quality. This is measured in most cases in evaluating the project’s outcomes. If they fit to the expected quality, you may call the project finished successfully. It is worth to take a closer look to these main factors – for example time.

The factor time in the project

Observed projects often show a mess in scheduling and in executing various task. Sometimes it seems that there does not exist an exact timetable, everything is done “somehow” without having precise estimations of needed time or no calculation about used time. Especially in school projects this is visible. As the students don’t earn money their cost are of no relevance. Time consuming due to bad timetables is a fact in such projects.

A regularly review of a well done schedule plan including the relevant milestones should be part of the task of the project manager. The check of milestones, the monitoring of task in execution with clearing problems and time consumers immediately helps to keep the time path.

Time management consist of a well-done schedule with milestones and time reserve at expected hotspots, a continuous monitoring of the activities and the immediately set necessary amendment steps.

Did you use the budget properly?

To keep the budget is a success and a proof of quality in the project management as well. But did you always use the money properly? Did you care for the best solutions (and not for the cheapest)? Did you spend the money with responsibility and a 360° view?

Especially the problem of the cheapest solution, which did you spare money but maybe costs quality, time, or produces other problems should be aware to each project manager. Therefore, it’s often a splendid idea to involve financial specialists or commercialists in creating the budget as well as during the project to finance the best solution.

The various sights of quality

In projects, the quality of the product (outcome or project result) is essential and should be checked (and amended, if necessary) regularly using the guidelines for quality in the project plan. But there is also another level of quality in the project. Quality plays a role in communication, meetings, cooperation, and dissemination as well. These items often are underestimated and this cares for conflicts in the project team. These conflicts decrease the work power of the project group and influence negatively the project results.

As a project manager should care about these other quality issues. Here it’s also necessary to care immediately to clear problems and to keep an eye on the given quality levels, for example in communication.