Our latest post Measuring Project Success asks the question can a project be years late, £ Billions over budget, and a success? It appears the answer to this question depends on your perspective.
In a recent post looking at project success, we identified a significant anomaly between the percentage of projects classed as failing and the perception of executives. In round terms some 70% of projects are classified as failing, but over 70% of executives think their organisation delivers projects successfully. You can read the updated version of this post Do 80% of organizations average a project failure rate of 80%? at: https://mosaicprojects.com.au/Mag_Articles/AA033_Do_organizations_average_a_project_failure_rate.pdf [1]
A number of people providing feedback suggested this anomaly could be caused by different perspectives of project success. This concept has been identified by many people over the years as the difference between project management success (on time and on budget), verses project success (the delivery of value to stakeholders). But the concept of project management success, typically measured as delivering the project on time and on budget, raises its own set of challenges outlined in the blog.
An example of the problem of defining success is the Crossrail Project in London. The final service upgrade on 21st May will mark the successful completion of the Crossrail project, some 4 ½ years after the original planned opening date in December 2018 and £4+ Billion over budget – so who gets to declare success and what is the basis for measuring this. The Elizabeth Line has been declared a success, but it is hardly a scientific measure, or effective KPI for general use.
The full blog post can be read at: https://mosaicprojects.wordpress.com/2023/04/27/measuring-project-success/ [2]