Assess Project Health 101

What is the Project Assessment Myth?

Many projects rarely get a truly independent and objective review. They might have a senior expert from your consulting firm conduct a periodic evaluation. Such reviews can provide valuable insights and conclusions. However, consulting firms may prioritize protecting their own interests, such as hiding or minimizing any blame they may have in causing project problems.

A friend of mine used a realtor to buy a home. This realtor recommended and paid for an inspector to assess the house for potential problems and necessary repairs. The realtor was eager to close the sale. The inspection report came back clean – no issues or concerns. Only after my friend moved in did he discover problems, such as light fixtures that didn't work, toilets that didn't flush properly, leaking pipes, and more. Do you think there was some collusion between the realtor and the inspector? The inspector may not have been fully independent and objective in representing my friend's interests.

Project assessments diagnose project health. Project health represents a project's prognosis for delivering to your organization's expectations.

A project assessment is a form of quality assurance. An assessor is a Quality Assurance Advisor.

Project assessments are analogous to an annual health physical, though conducted more frequently.

Project assessments gather and analyze data, relationships, and communications using interviews and project artifacts, also known as deliverables, to collect information or evidentiary material.

Project deliverables assessed include:

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    Project charter or mission, including the scope.
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    Key agreements and licenses.
  • ●
    Project plans.
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    Project status reports and other communications.
  • ●
    Issues and risks.

Project metrics assessed include:

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    Cost estimates
  • Actual costs incurred to date, including forecasts-to-complete
    ●

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    Schedule and milestones
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    Labor burn rates
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    Earned value
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    Business case
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    Estimate to complete (ETC)
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    Estimate at completion (EAC)

Recap: A project assessment examines:

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    Expected business outcomes
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    Scope
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    Cost
  • ●
    Schedule
  • ●
    Quality
  • ●
    Benefits

A project assessment is diagnostic. Its importance is similar to a periodic physical health check.

Project assessments:

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    Create a chance for early problem detection and diagnosis before your project goes off track.
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    Identify and address obstacles to success. Recognize potential issues, risks, and circumstances that, if not managed, could decrease the chances of your project achieving a successful business outcome.
  • ●
    Offer a perspective on the “real” health of your project.

As previously discussed, many people:

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    Avoid thoughts or situations that could cause pain.
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    Experience “loss aversion.”
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    Engage in wishful thinking that a problem or situation will resolve itself.

In the world of technology projects, things never improve on their own. A lot of energy, both effort and emotion, is needed to shift project behavior and direction.

Project assessments reassure business stakeholders that their project is on track to efficiently and effectively achieve business case benefits. Most importantly, stakeholders need accurate, objective, and realistic feedback on project status and health to take timely corrective action.

All projects, regardless of size, benefit from a second set of independent eyes to objectively assess whether they’re on a path to deliver successful outcomes.

Who engages in project assessments?

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    Involve core team leadership, team members, and partners in the assessment process.
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    All key sponsors and stakeholders should participate in project assessments to share their perspectives and express their concerns and issues.

Business stakeholders should own and sponsor the assessment process to ensure a realistic and objective view of project health is provided.

Each project's circumstance and environment may vary. At a minimum, these are the essential roles of those who should be involved:

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    Project Assessor: The individual serving as the project assessor, or quality assurance professional, participates in and leads the assessment process.
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    Business Team Members: Sponsor, business leads, and SMEs.
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    Business Constituents: Stakeholders representing various business areas, such as upstream, downstream, internal, and external capabilities, affected by your project.
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    Business Leadership: Senior leaders from the business areas and capabilities engaged with and affected your project.
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    Other: Business specialists, such as legal, procurement, human resources, and technology teams, as needed.
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    Core Team Leadership: Project Manager, Team Leads, IT-Business Liaisons, and Delivery Leader.
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    Partner Team Members: Lead vendor representatives involved in your project.
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    Other Constituencies: Other project observers, such as functional leaders, understand and monitor project activities, results, and impacts. Why? Because it's important to gather a variety of perspectives on project activities and achievements. This is similar to 360-degree peer reviews that managers and leaders participate in to gain a comprehensive overall view of their performance.

Project assessment should take place at key milestones throughout your project, from Initiate through Deploy.

Incorporate assessments into your project plan. Your plan should cover assessment scope, timing, roles, and deliverables.

Complete assessments within days or weeks, depending on your project's size and complexity.

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    Schedule and carry out all data-gathering activities, like interviews and collecting essential documents, within one to two weeks.
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    Prepare a report and share the final results within a week after finishing the fieldwork.

An assessment conducted after a project is finished should serve as an after-action dialogue (AAD) to help your organization capture, document, and share lessons learned.

Exceptional project situations or urgent issues might require more frequent assessments.

The person responsible for conducting the assessment should meet with key stakeholders.

These meetings should:

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    Surface project objectives, scope, methods, budget, and schedule.
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    Provide the assessor with an understanding of the work, perceived risks, stakeholder expectations, and assumptions.
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    Educate constituents about the assessment process.
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    Identify constituent concerns or interests your assessment process should track.

Conduct assessments at your business sponsor and project epicenter's main location, such as the area most affected.

For projects that affect or involve key stakeholders at other sites, travel may be necessary to interview staff and gather pertinent information. Use web or audio conferencing tools to cut down on travel expenses and time.