We continue our project management series with a question: Is success measurable?
Let’s be honest — to your managers, you’re just a bunch of statistics.
If something can’t be quantified, it doesn’t matter.
Is that really the case?
It shouldn’t be — at least not for good managers. But sometimes, hiding behind the mask of “rationality,” people become ruthless. Firing employees to feed their egos, using insults and pressure like riot police dispersing protestors — they love exercising power.
A good manager, though, stays balanced. They try to win over the employee.
It’s cheaper to support someone and make them feel secure in their role than to replace them with someone new and start over.
Just for a second, did you think I was talking like I actually cared about people?
Let’s move on to measuring project success.
If you remember one thing about project management, let it be the Illuminati triangle — time, scope, and budget, with quality sitting quietly in the middle.
You don’t need to be a smooth talker or fill the room with meetings. In fact, if we gave the whole process to AI and stayed silent, our efficiency might increase a hundred thousandfold. No more pointless debates, meetings, or egos.
So our “success criteria” are simply the triangle’s three sides. By measuring them, we determine whether the project is still alive, on track, or if — despite building drones — we’re still getting poorer.
There are two key concepts we’ll focus on:
Earned Value Analysis and the Schedule Performance Index.
The names sound fancy, but they’re perfect tools for impressing managers and stressing out employees. Just drop these terms in a meeting, and enjoy the panic. <figure class=”wp-caption”> <img src=”https://bahadirhancicek.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/a1b88-1gklk1xtgszxt8w7zqntsbw.png” alt=”Earned value analysis illustration”> <figcaption>DALL·E 2</figcaption> </figure>
Earned Value Analysis
This method brings the famous triangle under one roof.
In simple terms: it compares the work actually completed to the work planned — based on the effort spent.
That way, you can see if you’re over or under budget.
(I’m not adding formulas here — if you’re curious, Google is your friend.)
There are two things that really matter in this analysis:
- Is the percentage of completed work accurate?
How sure are you that 70% of the task is truly done? The best way to track this is to break work down into pieces that reflect reality. That way, you can clearly measure how much is finished.
If not, you might end up with a task that was 80% done yesterday, and somehow still 80% today. - What about the effort?
Time spent adapting, learning — these often get ignored.
You need to ask: how much of that effort counts toward the project? Who pays for the hours that don’t? If you don’t answer that, you won’t know how productive your team really is.
Schedule Performance Index (SPI)
As the name suggests, this metric tells you whether things are moving according to the planned timeline.
You calculate it by dividing earned value by planned value.
If you’ve completed more than expected at that point, that’s great — but don’t get lazy. Maybe relax a little, Mediterranean-style.
If you’re behind, you might switch into “Laz contractor” mode — aggressive, loud, pushy.
That sometimes works, because it cuts through the fluff and gets results.
But it can also backfire, killing morale and reducing efficiency.
If you want to maintain performance, first understand how complex the work is, how motivated the team is, and what their needs are.
Humans weren’t made to sit in offices doing the same thing every day.
You can’t expect high performance forever from a repetitive job.
It’s the project manager’s job to identify the low points in morale and output, and take action.
You can’t convince an Indian soldier to fight for the crown.
But if you tell him he’s fighting for God, he might ask which God.
Point is: you need better motivation.
There should be a reward for finishing early, and consequences for delay.
Okay, We Measured It — Now What?
It’s time to interpret the data.
This is where things get powerful: now you can predict the future.
Will the project finish on time? Is the budget enough?
What’s the projected cost at completion?
All this is only useful if your data is correct.
If you’ve spent most of the day chatting and not updating anything properly, one day you’ll wake up and realize:
The project is dead.
The money’s gone.
The deadline passed.
And you’re left either running or cleaning up your desk.
To avoid that, you must act.
Why are we ahead or behind?
Is this a risk or an opportunity?
Will things keep going this way?
Is the team overloaded?
Do we need to bring in reinforcements?
What about personal factors?
Should you give time off to the guy who lost a loved one?
Should you temporarily replace someone who’s depressed from a breakup?
Will the replacement take too long to catch up?
Is that other guy procrastinating like a student?
These are all the questions you’ll need to ask — and answer — if you want to actually manage project performance.
In the end, project performance measurement is a self-created trap.
We measure things, pretend we’re saving the world, and then spiral into stress — when really, we’re not doing anything more noble than the cashier, the garbage collector, or the gas station attendant.
I’m waiting for AI to take over soon anyway…es — in this brief life we’re given.
bahadirhancicek 
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