How to determine the overall status of a project following the very simple and effective GYR method (green, yellow or red colors are assigned to the different key elements of the project).

1. PROJECT
STATUS
DETERMINATION
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2. AGENDA
1. Status Colors
2. Key Elements
3. Cost
4. Time
5. Scope
6. Stakeholders
7. Risks
8. Team
9. Overall Project Status
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3. STATUS COLORS
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Status colors are a method of communicating quickly
and clearly which projects are progressing well and
which ones are at risk.
My project…
… is on track (OK)
… is slipping (CAUTION!)
… has serious problems (ALERT!)
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4. KEY ELEMENT
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• TIME: Are we on schedule?
• COST: Are we on budget?
• SCOPE: Do we have all we need to meet the
requirements (without affecting the above points)?
• RISKS: Do we know the risks and do we have a
plan to mitigate or retire them?
• TEAM: Is the team functioning well?
• STAKEHOLDERS: Are the stakeholders actively
engaged?
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5. TIME
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• Project plan accepted and key milestones identified.
• Project delivered according to plan.
• Quality of deliverables meeting set standards.
• Project is tracking to schedule.
• Project plan not fully defined.
• Quality of deliverables less than desired.
• Project initiative behind schedule by < 10%.
• Quality of deliverables putting project at risk.
• Project behind schedule by > 10%.
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6. COST
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• Project costs clearly defined
• Project financially viable.
• Project tracking on-budget
• Project costs not fully defined.
• Project costs over budget by <10%
• Project no longer financially viable
• Project costs over budget by >10%
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7. SCOPE
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• Scope of the project clearly defined.
• Project proceeding according to approved scope.
• Project conforms to architectural environment.
• Internal and/or external priorities can alter project scope.
• Pressure to expand scope of project.
• Project solution not fully conform to architectural environment.
• Internal and/or external priorities require a change in scope.
• Project solution does not conform to architectural environment.
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8. STAKEHOLDERS
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• Executive and sponsors actively engaged and committed.
• Stakeholders identified and engagement strategy developed.
• Stakeholders engaged in effective way.
• Executive and sponsor commitment not visible.
• Stakeholder engagement strategy developed but not all key.
• Stakeholders engaged effectively.
• Stakeholder engagement strategy has not been developed.
• Sponsors or key stakeholders groups are not engaged.
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9. RISKS
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• Project Risk management plan is in place.
• Critical risks identified.
• Mitigation strategies created.
• Risks not fully identified.
• Mitigation strategies not fully developed.
• Major project risks not identified.
• Mitigation strategies not identified or not acceptable.
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10. TEAM
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• Project staffed with the required expertise and capability.
• Roles and responsibilities clearly articulated and understood.
• Project team morale and collaboration are high.
• Gaps in required expertise and capability to deliver the project.
• Roles and responsibilities not clearly defined.
• Project team morale and collaboration not optimal.
• Significant gaps in resourcing requirements.
• Project team not functioning at acceptable level.
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11. OVERALL PROJECT STATUS
(1/3)
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The overall status of a project is green when the
following statements are true:
• The project is on track to deliver committed scope by
committed deadline with committed resources/funding.
• There are no impacting risks.
• The project is well controlled. Some issues have been
identified, but effective actions are planned for solving them.
• Most or all key indicators are reporting as green status.
• There is not any key indicator in red status.
Marcello Brivio | www.marcellobrivio.com

12. OVERALL PROJECT STATUS
(2/3)
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The overall status of a project is yellow when the
following statements are true:
• The project is not on track to deliver committed scope by
committed deadline with committed resources/funding, but
there is a plan to get back to green.
• There are some low impacting risks and issues that need
management but are controllable at the moment.
• The cost may exceed the estimate or budget and/or
sponsor satisfaction is at risk: additional management is
required to bring the project back under control.
• There is not any key indicator in red status.
Marcello Brivio | www.marcellobrivio.com

13. OVERALL PROJECT STATUS
(3/3)
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The overall status of a project is red when at least
one of the following statements is true:
• The project is not on track and currently there’s no plan to
get back to green.
• There are high impacting risks or issues that will impact
cost and/or schedule.
• The project has serious problems. For example, cost
overruns or rejection by the sponsor are unavoidable. Project
management must take drastic steps to turn the project
around. Requires steering committee intervention.
• One or more key indicators are in red status.
Marcello Brivio | www.marcellobrivio.com