Project Control: The Myth of 90% Complete

Project Control: The Myth of 90% Complete Andrew Makar, PMP October 20, 2004

Project Management Process Improvement PM 101 Advice, Anecdotes and Case Studies

A typical team status meeting includes the project manager reviewing the work plan and asking team members to report on relevant task progress in the work plan. A typical response from team members is "The task is 90 percent complete," or some variable percent. Project managers can make the mistake of assuming a status of "90 percent complete" is an effective method to monitor task progress.

Using a status of 90 percent, the project manager updates the project plan and communicates to the stakeholders that the particular deliverable is 90 percent complete. Everyone feels comfortable about the number and they move on to the next status item. Another week goes by, and at the next status meeting, the task is still 90 percent complete with "just a little more work to go."

When the project manager asks why the deliverable wasn't completed, the team member responds with a list of other tasks or dependencies that are needed to complete the task.