The question – what does Done Look Like? – was asked every week on the program that changed my life as a Program Manager. Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site (RFETS) was the marketing term for the 3rd worst toxic waste site on the planet. RFETS was a nuclear bomb manufacturing plant, built in 1951, operating until 1989, and closed in 2005. I served as the VP of Program Management of the ITC (Information Technology and Communications) group, providing ERP, purpose built IT, voice, and data systems for 5,000 employees and contractors of the Bomb Factory.

1. What Does Done Look Like?
The question – what does Done Look Like? – was asked every week on the program that changed
my life as a Program Manager. Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site (RFETS) was he
marketing term for the 3rd worst toxic waste site on the planet. RFETS was a nuclear bomb
manufacturing plant, built in 1951, operating until 1989, and closed in 2005. I served as the VP of
Program Management of the ITC (Information Technology and Communications) group,
providing ERP, purpose built IT, voice, and data systems for 5,000 employees and contractors of
the Bomb Factory. 1
The term what does Done Look Like, emerged at RFETS and has served as an anchor for program
management success every since. By Done is means the attributes of the deliverables that fulfill
a mission and business use, measured in units meaningful to the decision makers. The challenge
of course is defining these units of measure, assessing the deliverables against these units of
measure, and taking corrective action to the work efforts when they don’t match.
Knowing what Done looks like is one of five principles of project success
1. What does Done look like?
2. What is the path to Done?
3. Do we have enough time, resources, and money to reach Done as planned?
4. What impediments will be encountered along the way to Done?
5. How do we know we’re making progress toward Done?
Done is the starting and ending point for project success. Along the way, the four supporting
principles enable project success. But it’s the definition of Done that will be the focus of the
article. Without a clear and concise definition of Done is a Critical Success Factor.
Measures of Done
Any project control system has units of measure meaningful to the decision makes. There are a
small number of these measures that collect all attributes of every project in every domain
 Effectiveness – an Operational measure of success that are closely related to the
achievements of the mission or operational objectives evaluated in the operational
environment, under a specific set of conditions. Measures of Effectiveness …
o Are stated in units meaningful to the buyer,
o Focus on capabilities independent of any technical implementation,
o Are connected to the mission success.
Measures of Effectiveness belong to the End User
 Performance – characterize physical or functional attributes relating to the system
operation, measured or estimated under specific conditions. Measures of Performance
are …
o Attributes that assure the system has the capability and capacity to perform,
o Assessment of the system to assure it meets design requirements to satisfy the
MoE.
1 Making the Impossible Possible: Leading the Extraordinary Performance, The Rocky Flats Story:
Lessons form the the Cleanup of America’s Most Dangerous Weapons Plant, Kim Cameron and
Marc Lavine.

2. Measures of Performance belong to the project – developed by the systems engineers,
architecture, or lead developer.
 Technical Performance – are attributes that determine how well a system or system
element is satisfying or expected to satisfy a technical requirement or goal. Technical
Performance Measures …
o Assess design progress,
o Define compliance to performance requirements,
o Identify technical risk,
o Are limited to critical thresholds,
o Include projected performance.
Technical Performance Measures define the technical goal or values at the end of a
technical effort.
 Key Performance Parameters – Represent the capabilities and characteristics so
significant that failure to meet them can be cause for reevaluation, reassessing, or
termination of the program. Key Performance Parameters …
o Have a threshold or objective value,
o Characterize the major drivers of performance,
o Are considered Critical to Customer.
The buyer defines the KPP’s during the operational concept phase of the project. It’s the
KPP’s that say what Done looks like.
Time Phased Measures Compliance
Each of these measures is also time phased with a planned value, when compared to the actual
value shows how close we are to the plan of reaching Done.
Figure 1 – time phasedplannedTechnical Performance Measures for MeanTime BetweenFailure andactual measures ofMTBF
for the product deliverable. Going outside the upper or lower control limit means the product is not complaint andthe project
cannot be oncost andschedule.

3. Connecting the Dots Between These Measures
With the definitions of MOEs, MOPs, TPMs, and KPPs, let look at an example of how they’re
related.
Figure 2 – The Measures of Effective are derivedfromthe Business or Missionneed. KeyPerformance Parameters and
Measurers of Performance describe how the project’s deliverable fulfill those Effectiveness goal. The Technical Performance
Measures describes the engineering attributes of the product or services neededto enable the Performance andEffectiveness
to be delivered.
A working example of each of the measures of Done. In this example, the Mission is to deploy a
public service system. The local government is concerned about controlling disturbances,
mitigating crime, and having forensic video and sound evidence for legal purposes
The county desires to procure a surveillance system with cameras and sound devices at
strategic locations, send the data feeds via wireless technology, and monitor, store and retrieve
selected incidents.
The government wants near “real time” response and desires video quality such that they can
distinguish facial features and read a license plates within 20 feet from the camera
It also wants the systemto alert operators when there is evidence of a disturbance
It wants equipment that will allow them to store five years’ worth of data feeds collected 24/7
The government submitted a Request for Proposal (RFP) to procure, install, test and train
personnel. The government has set aside of budget of $40M and wants to system operational
within 18 months.
How Do We Know When We Are DONE with the Project?
As the project manager, your immediate job is to develop a “good” WBS, then determine the
system’s Measure of Effectiveness (MOE). Your job is to select appropriate Technical
Performance Measures (TPM) and use these to inform or drive reported cost and schedule
progress. Your next job is to ensure the government – your customer – that cost and schedule
progress will be consistent with measured technical progress.

4. But that is far from sufficient for project success. Each Measure of Effectiveness, Measure of
Performance, Technical Performance Measure, and Key Performance Parameter must be made
as planned. That, along with the cost and schedule performance measures, risk reduction
measures and any other meaningful measures used to inform the decision makers are part of
the description of Done.
Figure 3 – MOE, MOP, and TPMfor a public safetysurveillance system to detect disturbances onneighborhoods using audio
and videosystems as well as emergency911 dispatching. Whenthese measures are met, the providedsystemifconsidered
DONE.
Conclusion
Cost and schedule compliance alone is necessary but not sufficient for project success. The
product and the processes that produce the product must be compliant with the measures in
Figure 2 for each critical deliverable.
Otherwise the resulting product or service will no meet the needs of the customer.