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CHAPTER 8.1

MEASURING THE VALUE OF
WORK ACCOMPLISHMENT

Issue 1: Fidelity in Measuring Accomplishment Value
Among the most frequently asked questions about project status are:

• When will the job be finished?
• What will be the final cost of the job?
• Where do we stand on the job today? (What percent complete are we?)
In my 40 years of being involved with projects, it is this third query
that most frequently generates challenges to the fidelity of the data. Without
a structured way of developing measurements of completeness, the reporter
of such data is left with full discretion in computing and communicating
this status.
This situation has given way to the classic comment about project progress:
“The project quickly reaches 98 percent complete and then sits there forever
while the remaining work (and costs) accumulate.” This condition creates several
problems, among which are:
• A false sense of accomplishment is generated, leading management to erro-

neously believe that the project performance is better than it really is.
• Along with this is the erroneous belief that the cost performance is better

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