There are many approaches to identifying project success factors, and equally many efforts trying to identify these factors. If the approach to project management is performance based, then the success factors must also be performance based:
- The quality of the baseline - the establishment of a measurable baseline for the work to be performance is difficult in many cases. In the absence of a performance baseline the project has no way of knowing how it is performing other than the consumption of time and money. No matter the method - agile or not - some baseline of projected performance is needed.
- The actual performance against the baseline - once the baseline has been approved, the actual performance must be captured. The actual performance could be in several units, but units of value are the best.
- Management's determination to influence the results given the performance indicies - this is the most critical factor for any project management method. Without a commitment from management to task aggressive actions based on the performance data, the outcome of the remaining work will be disappointing.
Aggressive project management actions, if taken early, can often alter the final projected outcome for the project - Quentin Fleming and Joel Koppelman, Earned Value Project Management 2nd Edition, 2000
