Page 270 - Global Project Management Handbook

PROJECT CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS 13-7

HOW THE PROJECT-IMPLEMENTATION PROFILE WORKS

Since its development, the PIP has been completed by thousands of project managers world-
wide, responsible for a wide variety of projects from construction to high-technology R&D.
Use of the PIP suggests that project managers should engage in regular periodic reviews of
their projects throughout the project’s entire life. Both the project manager and members of
the project team perform an audit of the current status of the project based on an assessment
of the project’s health as measured by the 10 critical success factors. Each critical factor is
composed of a set of five subitems, making a total of 50 questions to which the project man-
ager must respond. Based on a national sample of over 400 projects, percentile scores have
been developed so that the project manager can monitor and track project performance in
comparison with a database of other successful projects.
The reason for periodic reviews of project status should be readily apparent. Project
development and implementation are a dynamic, ongoing process requiring constant review
and reassessment in order to gain an accurate picture of the project at any point in time. In
terms of deciding when best to reassess project status, our experience has been to employ a
combination of two methods: elapsed time and critical incidents. For example, in a project
expected to have a one-year duration, we have found that project reviews should take place
at regular intervals of not longer than one month. Not only does this method provide regular
project assessments, but it also puts the project manager and team members in the habit of
performing regular strategic implementation-monitoring activities.
The second assessment method concerns using the PIP following specific critical inci-
dents. Examples of critical incidents may include the achievement of important target
dates, the entrance into a new state of the project life cycle, or the development and/or
resolution of a crisis situation. These incidents do not neatly follow a one-month project-
monitoring program but signal that important changes are taking place in the project that
require an updated project status audit.

FOUR-STEP PROCESS

In addition to a discussion of the theory underlying the development and inclusion of
each of the 10 critical success factors, Appendix 13A contains an abbreviated copy of the

PIP. As a result, project managers can make practical use of this instrument by following
a simple four-step process that is outlined below.

Periodically Monitor the 10 Factors over Time

At each project monitoring point, the project manager and significant members of the
project team each fill out the PIP. Collecting data from as many people on the project
team as possible provides a wide range of perspectives of the status of the project. It also
eliminates the possibility that one or two key members of the team may be overly opti-
mistic about the project’s progress.

Use Consensus to Develop a Collective Picture of the Project
After everyone has filled out the profile, indicating their perception of the current status
of the project, review the results and discuss the likely causes of disagreements among