saurabh mahajanPMP, ITIL, PRINCE2| vodafonePune, Maharashtra, India
From a project manager's point of view when can he/she say the project is success
1) Only when the results meet client needs in defined time and cost ?
2) When project manager has managed all project management areas well ? even if he/she manages 8 areas well out of 10 knowledge areas can the project be success ?
or questions like below also should add to project success
1) is the team happy to work ?
2) Is the manager good ? Saving Changes...
Sergio Luis ConteHelping to create solutions for everyone| Worldwide based OrganizationsBuenos Aires, Argentina
Totally agree with you Elizabeth after reading your last comment. In the last years, business analyst role emerges as the accountable to help the organization to define, create, implement and monitoring after implementation something (product/service/result) that will solve the business problem or in other words will put organizational strategy in action. The way to create it is thanks to a project. But because business analyst role does not formally exists before 1993, most of us perform that role while our organizational position was project manager. So, thank you very much to give me the opportunity to learn from your comment. Saving Changes...
Elizabeth, I agree with your perspective of the evolution of the PM role. I believe that the PMI Talent Triangle has been introduced in support of that evolution.
Sergio Luis ConteHelping to create solutions for everyone| Worldwide based OrganizationsBuenos Aires, Argentina
Carla, thank you very much for your comment. I agree with all you stated except for the point about the role. The role on charge about you stated is the business analyst. But as I mentioned in my answer to Elizabeth is a role and most of us, while our organizational position is project manager, have been performed that role. Mainly when the business analyst role was not formally defined. Saving Changes...
Sergio Luis ConteHelping to create solutions for everyone| Worldwide based OrganizationsBuenos Aires, Argentina
One of the biggest things to consider is the project success definition and how is stated in terms of project success metrics in some place (in my case the Project Charter). In my opinion here comes again something I have debated for years in lot of places including the PMI forums. Project success metrics like "growth 5% in market share in the current year" are not acceptable, from my point of view, as project success metric. Why? Because that will be achieved thanks to the product/service/result created by the project but not by the project itself. So, I fully agree with the PMI definition about what I will be accountable for is to assure that the project will deliver the product as defined (product quality and project quality), in the needed time (restricted by "the current year" in the example) and using the defined budged. Saving Changes...
I think it's very subjective also I'm not sure as to how one can manage by having a focus on successfully attending knowledge areas. Like Mounir mentioned, it is all integrated. For your question as to when can a project manager say that the project is success, I say it's not for a project manager to decide the success.
Suppose I do a project with a happy team, raised profit, product delivered to client within time and the client is satisfied. Satisfied but not happy enough to do more projects with us. How do we gauge it? Again like Mounir said, it is from the perspective of the one who is interested. Saving Changes...
Anonymous
Sergio / Elizabeth
Part of the discussion is around the role of PM in this. I think today, in the project management community, there is confusion or lack of agreement on the role of the PM and whether the PM should be a technical expert, a project management expert, a business expert, or the jack-of-all-trades but the master of none.
Even PMI is creating confusions here instead of helping since the PMBOK Guide says the "pre-project" work is outside the project - and this where the business objectives are set; so the PM could not be involved. On the hand, the PMP exam RDS says the PM should know.
Obviously, this topic is highly dependent on industries, organizations, and level of maturity within these organizations.
Back to the question of project success. There cannot be one definition or one approach since:
(1) this highly dependent on the perspective of the organization interested in this question. For example, service providers (consultants, contractors) view of success would be different than from a project owner perspective. To be more specific: for a service provider success can be limited to a happy customer and profit whereas for a client success can be about realizing the benefits.
(2) Many look at project success from the perspective of the project manager or project management and this is OK for a PMO or PM Department. However, from a project owner perspective - this is not enough.
We have developed a model that consider success from four different dimensions (for project owners). These are:
1. Technical - Product Success; this is mostly about delivering the physical product per the technical specification.
2. Proj Mgmt Success; and this is expanded from the traditional cost and schedule + other factors
3. Project delivery success --- this would be on the delivery objectives set in the Proj Authorization
4. Objective Success --- this is per the project core business objectives and benefits realization.
We have published a few articles on this on our blog site for those who are interested to learn more Saving Changes...
Anonymous
Apr 25, 2016 4:46 PM
Replying to Samuel Vaddi
...
Elizabeth, I agree with your perspective of the evolution of the PM role. I believe that the PMI Talent Triangle has been introduced in support of that evolution.
A Project Management thought leader and well respected (will not name him here) posted something a few days ago that the PMI talent triangle has so many similarities with the 1999 version of the IPMA Competence Baseline. I have not seen the comparison but it has been my opinion as well but I thought only the concept is "borrowed" but his comment was not only the concept but so much of the details is also "borrowed".
Again ---- I have not confirmed this - so take it as an opinion not a fact. Saving Changes...
Sergio Luis ConteHelping to create solutions for everyone| Worldwide based OrganizationsBuenos Aires, Argentina
Mounir: I disagree with you. People create confusion (in my humble opinion) because people make a mix between what the PMI said, the reality demmands, and the opportunity people see to go higher in the organizational pyramid. The PMBOK is clear. Now, with the PMI intervention in business analysis the best deliverable the PMI has delivered in the last years is the Business Analysis for Practitioners (if you read it, you fully undestand both roles from the PMI view). In fact, while I have performed conferences around the world, publishing articles and papers about this topic from the last 10 years my own work has no sence today becuase that guide. Returning to the point, after participating in PMI standards in the last 20 years the only "grey point" is in product scope vs project scope. But only inside into the PMBOK. Saving Changes...
