Scheduling as Part of the Project Management Effort - Construction Project Scheduling and Control - page 270

Safety

Cost

Project
Scope

Other

Schedule

Quality

Figure 10.2 Project objective and constraints

DEFINING AND MEASURING PROJECT SUCCESS
Success has been defined in different ways; however, what seems to be in common
among all definitions is, “the achievement of something desired, planned, or
attempted.” So, we can define project success as “achieving the project objective within
the defined constraints.” What is interesting about project success are two things:

1. Success can be seen from different perspectives: the owner, the designer (archi-
tect or engineer, A/E), the contractor, the construction management consul-
tant, the general public, and so forth. Success for one party may not necessarily
mean success for the other parties. For example, an investor has chosen a poor
location for a hotel. The designer and the contractor did a great job in design-
ing and building the project, but due to the poor location, the hotel has not
attracted many customers. In such a case, the project is successful from the
designer's and contractor's perspective but not from the owner's. It would be
great if all parties partnered together so that they could all succeed together.
There are many models for partnering; however, each party still has strategic
goals that define success for him, her, or them.
2. Project success is not a simple yes (100%) or no (0%). There are degrees of
success. This author suggests using a model that lists all criteria (constraints and
requirements) along with their relative weights that represent their importance
to the user (see Table 10.1).

By assigning weights, the user can put more or less emphasis on certain criteria.
For example, a stadium for the World Cup or the Olympic Games may have a heavy
weight for the schedule. Another environmentally sensitive project may have a higher
weight for its environmental friendliness. Tables 10.2a and 10.2b make the grading of
the cost and schedule performance more objective. The user can create similar tables
for other criteria.