In my 25 year career, I have led and been a part more projects than I can honestly count in just about every shape, size, scope, and dollar amount. The largest project I ever led personally was a 4 billion dollar project that spanned 2.5 years. I’ve also seen great, well-led projects and poorly-led, rope-a-dope projects that left entire project teams exhausted, resentful, and unsuccessful in their outcomes.

Bazillions of pages have been written on how to run a project well, so I’m not intending to belabor a topic adequately covered by so many other able writers. However, one thing I notice as a gap are some of the under-spoken concepts I’m about to share.

How do you know that your project is truly going well?

The Obvious Things – First, (if the project is complete) was it successful, timely, and budget-conscious; and did it achieve its expectations and outcomes? If the project is not completed, what senior management wants to know, is the project making good progress or not? All great projects have the following in common:

1. Phenomenal project planning and having the necessary infrastructure in place for people to be successful in their work
2. Spectacular, frequent, and open communication, as well as constant management of expectations
3. The ability to pivot, accommodate, reshuffle, and respond to changing priorities, demands, and availability.

It helps your case enormously if you are actually hitting “the obvious things”, however they are only one measure of project success.

Perception and Feeling – the second measure, and equally important I might add, is the public perception, sense, or feeling that the project is going well, or the feeling that the project is under control or getting under control. This is accomplished through skillful communication and expectation management. There is the project work you do, and then there is the perception of the project work by both your team and those outside looking in. When you lead a project your reputation is at stake and you need to understand that the perception of your project is as critical as what you actually do on the project. In fact, it may be even more important, because your ability to take on greater responsibility may hinge on this project. If people don’t feel you can adequately handle what you currently have, it is unlikely they will give you more. Consistent project communication (in whatever form that takes) Senior management meetings, and other active stakeholder engagement and communication are your tools to creating a positive, or at minimum, a non-destructive perception around your project.

Even if things aren’t going as well, that’s okay – letting people know what your challenges are, and what you’re doing about them also creates a better perception than if you attempted to keep those things a secret. Remember, people talk, and word of the project will get around whether you like it or not. So, why not get ahead of it and tell your story in the way you want it told before the  “grapevine” does it for you?

Project Team Relationships – Third, is related to the relationships of everyone on the team. You can have an efficient project, but how is the team really doing? Is your superb efficiency at the expense of the team’s extreme imbalance? Or is the opposite happening, are you as a project team more bonded together than when you started? Are you friends now? Would you work with this team again? Or is it that you can’t wait until this project is over because you can’t stand these people?

While it’s not a measure that will come up (or even matter) at a senior management meeting, it’s still important, because you may have to work with some of these same people later on. If you only thought short term and killed everyone for the sake of your project, people will remember and associate you with pain. They will not want to work with you again, or if they have to, it is unlikely that they will give you their best the next time.

So often we equate project success with delivering an expected product or scope on time and under budget. In leadership, however, the ends do not always justify the means. Successful completion is basic and even expected. however the great project managers not only deliver, but they do so while managing the expectations of those around them, and building a happy, inclusive, and wholly intact team.

Question: How do you measure project success? What strategies have worked well for you? You can leave a comment by clicking here.