What project is successful?

A good project manager should do successful projects. The previous article was about the manager’s professional immaturity and its consequences for the project. Now - a turn of reasoning about what needs to be done, that the project was considered successful. Today's topic is the criteria for the success of the project, which go beyond the generally accepted framework .

From time immemorial, ever since the first successful projects were carried out, it was considered that there were three criteria for success. During. Qualitatively. Inexpensive.

By the way, did you know that the first successful project managers were the Egyptians? It was in honor of their pyramids, triangular in profile, the project’s limitations in terms of terms, quality and budget were called the “Golden Triangle”.
')
So it was in antiquity, then the projects were a rarity, the result of delivery - was amazing. The current projects were ground to the ground. Compare the construction of the pyramids themselves and the implementation of the ERP-system, albeit in a multinational company. But the second is an example of the most large-scale event in the field of information technology!

In principle, even the preparation of corporate drinking can be considered a project.



I tend to view project management discipline as a tool used by a company. Each individual project is the use by the company of a tool to turn resources into a result.

Once upon a time, at the dawn of the automotive industry, Henry Ford loved to draw curvatures. His favorite pattern was the learning curve. Its meaning is that each subsequent operation is easier than the previous one. Repetition hones skill. He drew, drew, and invented a conveyor with workers who performed elementary operations.



Simplify the situation utterly. The company will be a proletarian, and project management - a chisel.

By analogy with the employees of Ford, the company practicing the project approach is also learning. Each successive project is easier. Knowledge is accumulated, experience is gained. The company is on the path of maturity.

It is probably worth forming a rule:
Successful is the project that improved the maturity of the company in the field of project management and justified the sponsors' expectations for quality, time and budget.

About what is maturity and how the company can be trained I will write.

And for those who are launching a project for the first time, it is really enough to do it on time, with high quality and meet the budget.

I will tell you in secret - my first project met the requirements for terms and quality. The budget due to unforeseen circumstances was overspending on the reserve 15%. I consider this project a success.

- Vadim Safronov

References:
1. Schedule learning curve