How do you track whether a project is on track?
What the interviewer wants to hear
- Compare actual progress against the baseline plan
- Track milestones, schedule and budget
- Use tools and metrics like burndown or earned value
- Talk to the team, not just the tool
Model answer
I compare actual progress with the approved baseline plan. I track the key milestones and the critical path tasks closely, because a delay there moves the end date. I also track the budget, comparing what we have spent with what we planned for the work done. For larger projects I use simple earned value measures like SPI and CPI. In agile teams I look at sprint burndown or burnup charts and velocity trends. All of this goes into a dashboard in a tool like Jira or Smartsheet. But I never rely only on the tool. I talk to the team every day, because people often know about problems before they show up in the numbers. If something is off track, I act early and report it honestly.
Can you answer it under time pressure?
Take a timed easy round and get scored on every answer.
More easy Project Manager questions
- Describe the main phases of a project lifecycle.
- How do you manage risks on a project?
- How do you keep stakeholders informed during a project?
- What is the difference between agile and waterfall, and when would you use each?
- What is the difference between a project, a program and a portfolio?
- What goes into a good project management plan?
- How is a Scrum Master different from a project manager?
- How do you make project meetings effective?
- How do you create a work breakdown structure for a new project?