Project Success Criteria
Abstract
Project success criteria can vary depending on the emphasis placed on the main project criteria, i.e., cost, time, quality, performance, or safety. The methods used to achieve these criteria are outlined in a table of the most important factors to be employed. The chapter also discusses key performance indicators (KPIs), which can be important milestones, reporting points, or performance or payment targets.
Keywords
Project success criteria; key performance indicator (KPI); success criteria
Chapter Outline
One of the topics in the project management plan is project success criteria. These are the most important attributes and objectives that must be met to enable the project to be termed a success. The most familiar success criteria are completion on time, keeping the project costs within budget, and meeting the performance and quality requirements set out in the specification. However, there are additional criteria that in some industries are equally or even more important. These can be safety, sustainability, reliability, legacy (long-term performance), and meeting the desired business benefit. It can be argued that all these are enshrined in performance, but there is undoubtedly a difference of emphasis between industries, organisations, and public perceptions. With the realisation that climate change has a significant impact on the environment and our future lives, sustainability in the form of conservation of energy and natural resources and the control of carbon emissions have all become performance criteria in their own right, especially as these will be subject to stricter and stricter government legislation across the whole industrial spectrum. In this context, sustainability is of course linked with legacy, as future generations will thrive or suffer depending on our success in meeting these important criteria.
It is always possible that during the life of a project, problems arise that demand that certain changes have to be made which may involve compromises and trade-offs to keep the project either on programme or within the cost boundaries. The extent to which these compromises are acceptable or permissible depends on their scope and nature and requires the approval of the project manager and possibly also the sponsor and client. However, where such an envisaged change will affect one of the project success criteria, a compromise of the affected success criterion may not be acceptable under any circumstance.
For example, if one of the project success criteria is that the project finishes by or before a certain date, then there can be no compromise of the date, but the cost may increase or quality may be sacrificed.
Success criteria can of course be subjective and depend often on the point of view of the observer. Judged by the conventional criteria of a well-managed project, i.e., cost, time, and performance, the Sydney Opera House failed in all three, as it was vastly over budget, very late in completion, and is considered to be too small for grand opera. Despite this, most people consider it to be a great piece of architecture and a wonderful landmark for the city of Sydney.
While it is not difficult to set the success criteria, they can only be achieved if a number of success factors are met. The most important of these are given below:
• Clear objectives and project brief agreed with client
• Good planning and scheduling methods
• Accurate time control and feedback system
• Rigorous performance monitoring and control systems
• Rigorous change control (variations) procedures
• Adequate resource availability (finance, labour, plant, materials)
• Full top management and sponsor support
• Competent project management
• Comprehensive quality control procedures
• Motivated and well-integrated team
• Good contractual documentation
• Good internal and external communications
∗ Awareness of environmental issues and related legislation
This list is not exhaustive, but if only one of the functions or systems listed is not performed adequately, the project may well end in failure.
Key Performance Indicators
A key performance indicator (KPI) is a major criterion against which a particular part of the project can be measured. A KPI can be a milestone that must be met, a predetermined design, delivery, installation, production, testing, erection, or commissioning stage, a payment date (in or out), or any other important stage in a project. In process plants, KPIs can include the contractual performance obligations such as output or throughput, pressure, temperature, or other quality requirements. Even when the project has been commissioned and handed over, KPIs relating to performance over defined time spans (reliability and repeatability) are often still part of the contractual requirements. Some KPIs cannot be measured or proven until the project or the operations following project completion have been running for a number of years, but these, which could also include performance and sustainability criteria, should nevertheless be considered and incorporated at both the planning and execution stages.