Tracking Project Success

𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐒𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐁𝐞𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐆𝐨-𝐋𝐢𝐯𝐞: 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐈𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐃𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐋𝐚𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐡

As project managers, we often celebrate go-live as the finish line. But the real measurement of success begins after deployment.

A project might tick every box during delivery, on time, on budget, stakeholders happy, but fail to deliver the promised business value months later. 

Without post-implementation tracking, you're essentially flying blind.

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐆𝐨 𝐋𝐢𝐯𝐞

𝐁𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐎𝐮𝐭𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 (30-90 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐭): The metrics we promised in the business case need validation. Did we actually reduce processing time by 40%? Are customer satisfaction scores improving? Is revenue increasing as projected? These aren't vanity metrics, they're the reason the project got funded.

𝐀𝐝𝐨𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐔𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐬: A system that nobody uses is a failed system, regardless of how well it was built. I monitor active user counts, feature utilisation, and identify any workarounds people are creating. Low adoption often signals training gaps or design issues we can still fix.

𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡:  System performance, incident rates, and support ticket trends tell us if the solution is stable and sustainable. A spike in issues two months after launch might indicate problems that didn't surface during UAT.

𝐋𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 (𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐎𝐧𝐞𝐬): I schedule a retrospective 60-90 days post-launch, not just at project close. This gap gives teams time to experience the solution in production and surface insights that matter for future projects.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐎𝐈 𝐨𝐟 𝐏𝐨𝐬𝐭-𝐋𝐚𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐡 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠

This isn't just about accountability, it's about continuous improvement and credibility. When you can demonstrate actual delivered value, you build trust with executives and secure support for future initiatives. When things fall short, early detection means you can course-correct before small issues become expensive failures.

𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈𝐭 𝐏𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥

I typically negotiate a 30-60 day "hypercare" period as part of project closure, with defined metrics and review checkpoints. This keeps the team engaged without keeping the full project structure running indefinitely.

What's your approach? Do you track post-launch metrics, or does your involvement end at deployment?