How do you define Project Success? - Google Project Mgmt
Google Project Management Interview Question and Answers - How do you define Project Success?
I don’t define success by a single checkbox (finished on time, on budget). Instead I use a multi-dimensional, measurable definition that ties delivery to real business value. Below I’ll walk you through my working definition, how I set and measure success, how I handle trade-offs, common pitfalls and mitigations, and a brief real-world example.
A project is successful when it delivers the agreed scope to the required quality within acceptable schedule/cost tolerances, and the business actually realizes the intended benefits — sustainably and measurably — while stakeholders and the project team feel the process was well governed and reasonably managed.
Dimensions of Success
Scope & Quality (Did we build the right thing, and is it fit for purpose?)
Deliverables meet acceptance criteria and quality gates.
Measured by acceptance test pass rate, defect density, QA sign-offs.
Schedule (Was value delivered when promised?)
Delivered to baseline or within approved change.
Measured by milestone adherence, SPI, time-to-market.
Cost (Did we spend within agreed resources?)
Delivered within budget or with approved delta.
Measured by CPI, variance to budget, contingency consumption.
Benefits Realization (Is the business getting the value?)
Adoption, revenue uplift, cost reduction, process efficiency gains.
Measured by KPIs in a Benefits Realization Plan (e.g., % adoption, ₹ saved, NPS change).
Stakeholder Satisfaction & Governance
Sponsor and key stakeholders feel outcomes meet expectations and decision processes were clear.
Measured by stakeholder NPS / survey, number of escalations, steering committee feedback.
Operational Readiness & Handover
Smooth transition to operations/support with runbooks, SLAs, training and hypercare.
Measured by incident rate post-handover, SLA attainment during hypercare.
Team Health & Learning
Team morale, retention, and documented lessons learned.
Measured by retro feedback, turnover, number of improvements implemented.
Compliance & Risk Management
Regulatory requirements met, residual risks within tolerance.
Measured by audit readiness, number of compliance exceptions, residual risk score.