Everyone wants successful projects, right? Yet in reality, there is often a lack of clarity about what project success really means. So, how exactly do you define project success? And how do you respond when there are conflicting views about this at your company? What you will learn in this article:
The term project success is usually used to describe the positive completion of a project, if the defined goals and requirements have been met within the set time frame, budget and in compliance with quality standards. Factors such as effective communication, teamwork and the fulfillment of customer requirements play a decisive role. Project success is often measured in terms of overall performance and the added value for the stakeholders.
For companies, project success is about using projects to increase or improve the value of the company. However, this does not have to happen with every project.
It tends to be difficult to answer these questions directly after the completion of a project. So, it is better to take a longer-term perspective. What exactly this could look like, and which factors it is necessary to consider, will be explained further below in this article.
For a start, let us consider the criteria for project success.
The magic triangle in project management helps determine the success of a project using three parameters. Performance scope, time and cost. These three goals are represented by the corners of a triangle.
Yet, the Association for Project Management (APM) found out that these were by far not all decisive factors in the study “Conditions for project success” published in 2021. The study surveyed 850 project professionals from across the private and public sector.
The survey shows that only a total of 22 percent of all projects are regarded as successful. The following success factors were rated as particularly important by the respondents:
Factors such as budget, methods or tools and standards were not rated as equally decisive.
You have already learned that the satisfaction of all stakeholders is an important factor for project success. Yet, who exactly does this refer to?
At the beginning of a project, you traditionally begin with a stakeholder analysis. This serves to define all stakeholders clearly under consideration of all influencing factors and project risks.
Find more detail on this topic here: Stakeholder Analysis and Stakeholder Management in the Project Environment
Active stakeholders are for example:
Passive stakeholders are for example:
A good kick-off workshop will also benefit project success. Read article.
What sounds simple in theory turns out to be more difficult than expected in the day-to-day project work. The different stakeholders have different attitudes and expectations regarding a project.
To the project customer, it matters for instance that:
On the other hand, project managers focus primarily on the objectives that:
Whereas project portfolio management and controlling are more likely to focus on the aspects that:
These are just a few examples, yet they clearly reveal the problem: at bottom, all stakeholders have very different ideas of what project success is.
The different expectations regarding the meaning of project success mean that conflicts in companies can arise quickly. If these are not resolved from the beginning, they will sooner or later lead to discontentedness. Maybe not for all stakeholders, but at least for some.
In the worst case, this leads to extra work, or the project gets delayed. Other possibilities are that dissatisfaction increases or projects are even discontinued because one did not get what one expected.
Tip: The different attitudes of stakeholders do not always present a risk but can also be an opportunity! Identify and analyze the stakeholders’ expectations on a regular basis. This will allow you to provide support using the right measures and remove stumbling blocks in good time.
What can you do when the ideas and attitude of the individual stakeholders at your company regarding project success clearly diverge?
Take enough time to define the project. The questions below may help you with this. Make sure you resolve them with all relevant stakeholders at the beginning of the project:
Tip: Think of physical deliverables, such as e.g. modified process documents, trainings, etc. This makes it clear to all participants what they will get after the project.
Reading tip: Would you like to stay in control throughout the course of the project? Read this article: Project status report – Contents, Template and Process
To be able to define project success clearly, it is moreover helpful to introduce an additional step before the project charter: the project proposal.
This is a short, 1-2-page document explaining what the project is meant to be carried out for.
The project proposal should give precise answers to the following questions:
After this, the project proposal is presented to the steering board. This body decides whether the project will be undertaken or not.
Only after the approval of the project proposal, you start drawing up the project charter.
The introduction of a project proposal has the following advantages:
In a second step, the challenge is to find out which other stakeholders there are. For this purpose, you draw up the so-called stakeholder map.
The stakeholder map resolves questions such as for example:
Tip: Keep updating your stakeholder map in the course of the project and adapt it to changed framework conditions if necessary.
A target circle can serve as an ideal tool for joint discussion. It consists of four quadrants:
The target circle, too, should be discussed together. The room is limited, which in turn limits the selection of the targets. Hence, the challenge is to define the key points for you and all participants.
Tip: Start the discussion with all participants to define project success and answer the questions from the target circle in good time.
Reading tip: 7 Crucial Success Factors for Multi-Project Management (+Checklist)
The results of the target circle serve as a basis for the project proposal.
Tip: In reality, you will find that not all relevant individuals are available straight away. Therefore, work in iterations, i.e. from the rough to the detailed. Stakeholder map and target circle can also be drawn up in parallel depending on the availability of the required individuals. However: the more people you have on board from the beginning the better. This is the quickest way to gather all relevant information and perspectives.
There will always be colleagues who are itching to get going and would like to start straight away instead of discussing first. It is necessary to convince them of the benefits of the preliminary discussions. After all, they will also benefit if all goals are neatly drawn up.
Make the necessity for the preliminary talks clear to everyone!
This is usually accompanied by operational problems:
Resolving these operational problems can take a bit of time in reality. Do not let this discourage you!
Project wisdom: “Tell me how a project begins, and I will tell you how it will end.”
Keep this project wisdom at the back of your mind. Often, failed projects can be traced back to the fact that one did not take enough time at the beginning.
Yet, if you are unclear about what is expected, you will always be disappointed with the result.
Reading tip: An initial role clarification workshop can also boost project success.
Therefore, make the benefits from the steps described above clear to all participants:
In this article, you have learned that it is worth investing time in the clear definition of project success.
Always take this time before you start a new project. Otherwise, it can quickly come to pass that your project uses up unnecessary resources or takes a wrong turn.
Try to understand who the most important contacts or groups are and what they expect. What do you, but also all other participants, regard as project success? The project proposal, a stakeholder map or a target circle talk can help you find this out together.
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