Jason Yip has a nice post describing the status expected from an Agile project. From the point of view of an agile iteration these are:
- Is the project going to succeed in terms of achieving scope goals within time goals?
- Where is the project trending in terms of velocity (i.e., rate of completing work)? Does it require intervention?
- Where is the project trending in terms of scope increases? Does it require intervention?
- How far have we used up overall project buffer in terms of cost? Does it require intervention?
- Are there any other issues that require intervention?
- What was committed to and completed? What was committed to and not completed? Why?
From a Deliverables Based Planningsm approach these are:
- What is the physical percent progress for the defined deliverables? Each deliverable is implemented in a Work Package. What is the earned value (or some other measure of physical percent complete)?
- What is the To Complete Performance Index (TCPI) for the collection of Work Packages and the Project?
- What are the approved changes and what impacts have resulted to the Work Packages in terms of budget, schedule, sequence, and outcomes?
- How is the project margin erosion trending compared to the planned margin erosion?
- What is the content of the Risk Registry, the mitigation or retirement plans for each risk, and the allocated budget for these efforts?
- Are the planned deliverables being actually delivered according to plan? If not, what is the "get to green" plan for the remaining work.