7 Signs of Highly Effective Projects

1. Stakeholders are committed. Linking a bonus plan or incentive compensation to a project’s results can significantly increase the commitment level of the project’s sponsors and stakeholders.
   
2. Business benefits are realized.  Finance can help achieve this objective by tracking the project’s goals and the status of those goals as the project progresses. "You don’t want to be in a predicament where the good news is that we came in on budget, but the bad news is that the project doesn’t do what we want it to do," adds D’Andrea. Sometimes that means companies should pass on projects that don’t have a sound business case.
   
3. Work and schedule are predicted.  Anyone can blow the whistle on past-due or over-budget projects. But finance managers who can predict early whether a project is headed for trouble give project managers the chance to get back on course. PricewaterhouseCoopers has developed a status report in which key factors receive a green (good), yellow (possible trouble) or red (trouble) mark each time the project is monitored. Project managers list concerns and recommend actions for any factor that receives a yellow or red mark. For example, if work and schedule receive a yellow mark, a project manager might note that the rate of change requests from end users has doubled since the last status report. The project manager might recommend that the project team identify the root cause of the increase in change requests: Is it due to new market conditions or end users’ failure to clearly define their needs?
   
4. Scope is realistic and managed. Scope creep, the process through which a project mutates as functions are tacked on to the original plan, can destroy budgets. Finance managers should remind project managers of the financial impact associated with each additional piece of functionality they agree to implement once the project has begun.
   
5. Team is high-performing. D’Andrea says that morale, trust, physical environment, reward and recognition contribute to the healthy performance of the project team. He also notes that project managers should minimize unplanned turnover from their project teams to maintain high levels of productivity.
   
6. Risks are mitigated.  "If I were a CFO and somebody said, ‘We’re going to reinvent our business model by moving to the Web,’ I would want them to show me a feasibility test," says D’Andrea. "The best advice is: Don’t do something in a big way until you’ve seen it work in a small way."
   
7. Project team benefits are realized. Project teams are trying to enhance their reputation, add to their knowledge and skill sets, and develop staff with each project. If these aims are identified and satisfied, D’Andrea notes, the outlook for a project’s success is greater.

Source: PricewaterhouseCoopers