Conducting the Project Review
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and that all projects are focused on this ideal. Whether you use a formalized Six Sigma program or not, quality has to be maintained or improved. A project that streamlines time and costs but also reduces quality is not successful, because the lower quality is ultimately going to more than offset any apparent savings. 4. New value was created through risk management and controls. The most successful projects create new value without adding new expense. For example, simple changes in processing may reduce defects without adding to costs or time; they may even reduce the cost elements of processes. This usually requires the installation of risk management as part of the process, through improved controls within the process itself, not as an outside auditing or oversight function. 5. The goals of the project have been met. Finally, the big question comes down to whether your efforts have reached management’s original goals. If a goal of your project was to reduce expenses, cut processing time, improve customer responses, or eliminate repetitive defects, your question has to be whether the project accomplished those goals. It is interesting that, as some projects evolve, you may begin with one set of goal assumptions only to discover a more expanded set of problems that need to be addressed. So project management often is a dynamic process that requires continual communication with management, redefinition, and perhaps revision of schedules and budgets. A periodic progress review is essential for this reason; you may need to ensure that your project is moving along scheduling and budgetary expectations; you may also need to change the goals of the original project.
The Progress Review It may appear that a ‘‘successful’’ project is one that is completed on time and within budget. In fact, though, these obvious objectives can be controlled and are more likely to come about when your team members have a sense of their own participation. It helps greatly if team members have a sense of ownership in the project and not merely a reporting role. Problems leading to schedule and budget failure are not American Management Association www.amanet.org