{"id":57628,"date":"2021-05-27T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-05-27T19:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.projectmanager.com\/?p=57628"},"modified":"2026-04-28T14:47:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T19:47:09","slug":"understanding-project-management-success-criteria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.projectmanager.com\/blog\/understanding-project-management-success-criteria","title":{"rendered":"Understanding Project Management Success Criteria"},"content":{"rendered":"

Without knowing what your project success criteria are, can you truly say your project is successful?<\/span> Everyone wants their project to be successful, but few take the time to define what that means.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s say you\u2019ve delivered a product or service on time and within budget\u2014is that success? It could be, but not if it doesn\u2019t meet stakeholder expectations. Project success criteria are critical to know if, in fact, the project has met those metrics.<\/p>\n

How To Define Project Management Success<\/h2>\n

Project management success is defined by how efficiently a project manager or project management office<\/a> achieves the project’s goals and objectives. Of course, you want to bring in a project before the deadline and under budget. That\u2019s all about using limited resources in the best way possible. But at the same time, you need to develop good relationships with all the stakeholders.<\/p>\n

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Stakeholders have expectations<\/a> that must be managed. Everyone who is invested in the project has a picture of what success looks like, and it\u2019s critical to understand and manage those expectations or else there will be stakeholders who feel the project has failed regardless of meeting the budget, schedule and scope goals.<\/p>\n

Another aspect of project management success is the quality of the product or service delivered. Who cares if you make a widget that won\u2019t work but delivered it on time and within the approved budget? You have to manage quality and never lose sight of the benefits that are the core goals and objectives of the project.<\/p>\n

That doesn\u2019t mean defining project management success is easy. There are a lot of factors to take into account and some of them can\u2019t be assessed until long after the project has closed. Therefore, it\u2019s important to understand project success and project management success are not the same things especially when managing programs and project portfolios<\/a>.<\/p>\n

How To Evaluate Project Management Success<\/h2>\n

Project success is based solely on how efficiently the project is managed<\/a> while delivering on its goals and objectives. With that said, there are six metrics by which any project\u2019s success is measured:<\/p>\n

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  1. Scope:<\/strong> Achieving the intended results of the project.<\/li>\n
  2. Schedule:<\/strong> Meeting the deadline, including all milestones.<\/li>\n
  3. Budget:<\/strong> Delivering the project for the amount agreed upon.<\/li>\n
  4. Team Satisfaction:<\/strong> Making sure the team feels satisfied with the project.<\/li>\n
  5. Customer Satisfaction:<\/strong> Get positive feedback from clients, sponsors, stakeholders, et al.<\/li>\n
  6. Quality:<\/strong> Achieve expectations of stakeholders.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The great thing about defining project success criteria is that it not only leads you to a successful project but also helps future projects. Using success criteria can also be seen as practice towards continuous improvements<\/a> by learning from the experience.<\/p>\n

    What Are Project Success Criteria?<\/h2>\n

    As noted above, project success criteria and project management success are slightly different. Even these differences can vary from organization to organization, project to project and even team to team. But basically, we\u2019re dealing with two types of success.<\/p>\n

    The first type is related to project management. It\u2019s both about managing the project efficiently and aligning with the business objectives of the organization. This can be done through regular meetings, project audits, meeting the timetable and deadlines as well as reaching the expected quality for the product or service.<\/p>\n

    The second type is related to the deliverables.<\/a> When measuring this type of success, stay focused on what the project has promised to accomplish. You want to reach the objectives as outlined in the business case<\/a> for the project, such as getting the product or service to users and meeting customer satisfaction, etc.<\/p>\n

    What Are the Three Success Criteria for Projects?<\/h2>\n

    The three success criteria for a project are cost, scope and time (the triple constraint). While the details might be different depending on the industry, company or objective of the project, success or failure<\/a> will depend on these three factors.<\/p>\n

    If you can deliver a project on time, within budget and achieve the scope as defined in the project documents, that is a success. But as we\u2019ve learned, there\u2019s often more involved and it\u2019s better to get more specific. For example, in some cases a project might be delivered successfully, but it might require more resources than were expected, affecting other projects in a program<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    For example, it\u2019s not merely bringing the project in or below the budget, but also creating value for investment and reaping benefits for stakeholders.<\/a> It\u2019s best to define what cost, scope and time mean beyond the general idea to get a better sense of what is a successful project.<\/p>\n

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