Project Critical Success Factors
The 8 Key Factors are:
1. Business Case –
I agree that building a strong business case to be communicated and shared with the Project stakeholders/sponsors and Team members is of extreme importance. This is a task with extreme strategic value, as it will be linked to motivation for the entire team. When the team members know that the project is based on a solid business case, it serves to justify the utility and value of the project for the sponsors and the organization. Having project based on a strong business case will help to identify objectives, milestones and performance measurement tools that will serve as benchmarks along the project lifetime. It will also help identify concrete CSF.
2. Critical Success Factors –
CSF’s are a natural 2nd step derived from the Business Case. Once we know WHY the project is being done CSF can be identified to in order to set the main “values” that the project will need to meet in order to be considered “successful.” At the very least, the CSF will identify those objectives which are KEY, or minimum requirements, for the project. For example, if our project was the implementation of a new software tool within the organization, i.e. Expense Point, which streamlines and standardizes the company’s expense reporting of all its sales staff. Then, the business case might include all the planned benefits (financial and otherwise, such as cost reduction, process standardization, ease of use as reported by users, better reporting functionalities, reduced processing time, etc) from the implementation and use of this new software. The CSF, then might be the following:
- successful IT implementation by YY/MM/DD
- successful training of all sales staff
- proven reduction in processing times (from 10 business days to 5 business days)
- Employee satisfaction upon use (measured via a survey delivered to users)
- Reduction in processing costs (as measured by cost analysis)
- Increased reporting functions (measured by added
1. Business Case –
I agree that building a strong business case to be communicated and shared with the Project stakeholders/sponsors and Team members is of extreme importance. This is a task with extreme strategic value, as it will be linked to motivation for the entire team. When the team members know that the project is based on a solid business case, it serves to justify the utility and value of the project for the sponsors and the organization. Having project based on a strong business case will help to identify objectives, milestones and performance measurement tools that will serve as benchmarks along the project lifetime. It will also help identify concrete CSF.
2. Critical Success Factors –
CSF’s are a natural 2nd step derived from the Business Case. Once we know WHY the project is being done CSF can be identified to in order to set the main “values” that the project will need to meet in order to be considered “successful.” At the very least, the CSF will identify those objectives which are KEY, or minimum requirements, for the project. For example, if our project was the implementation of a new software tool within the organization, i.e. Expense Point, which streamlines and standardizes the company’s expense reporting of all its sales staff. Then, the business case might include all the planned benefits (financial and otherwise, such as cost reduction, process standardization, ease of use as reported by users, better reporting functionalities, reduced processing time, etc) from the implementation and use of this new software. The CSF, then might be the following:
- successful IT implementation by YY/MM/DD
- successful training of all sales staff
- proven reduction in processing times (from 10 business days to 5 business days)
- Employee satisfaction upon use (measured via a survey delivered to users)
- Reduction in processing costs (as measured by cost analysis)
- Increased reporting functions (measured by added