Okay, it's easy to have everyone list how many hours they've worked on the project. It's also easy to write down what work has been completed and what work still needs to be done. It's not hard to match this information against the original plan, budget, and schedule to see if you are on course. But, how do you measure the intangibles? How do you measure how well your team members are getting along? How do you measure whether communication is effective or not? How do you measure the quality of the work that has been completed?

Status reports won't tell you if the work is done poorly. After all, who's going to write down “The new roof is in place, the job is completed … but the roof will leak”? So what can you do? Be omnipresent — the more walkthroughs, the better. Walkthroughs are those little strolls you take just to see that all is going well. No, you don't want to appear to be looking over peoples'shoulders, but you do need to know that the person in charge of hiring a stripper to strip the shingles off the roof doesn't hire a stripper in an exotic outfit. You want to remain somewhat unobtrusive, yet approachable; somewhat cheerful, yet businesslike. Don't get sidetracked by lengthy conversations;set up appointments to discuss matters that would slow down your otherwise breezy jaunt.

Activities not only need to be done on time, they need to be done correctly. Make sure you have a feel for exactly what task members are doing and how they are doing it early on. Then politely set task members back on course if they seem to be going astray. If the first page of the brochure copy makes little sense, it's not likely the next three pages will be any better.

It helps to have examples available of exactly what you want. A picture or video presentation is worth a thousand words. Explaining, “We want the pool to look like this one,” as you hold up a photo of an in-ground, kidney-shaped pool will prevent misunderstandings. Since most projects do not create something completely new and original, you can use a model to show both the quality and specifics you are looking for.

As for monitoring morale and cohesiveness, you need to make a concerted effort to note whether people are working well together or just barely tolerating one another. Although you may be tipped off by a slowdown in production or a lack of interest in planned extracurricular activities, this is primarily a judgment call. Encourage people to discuss matters with you, particularly if they are having trouble working with other team members. Never take sides; just try to create a situation in which the two parties can come to common terms on the project and work together. You need not create friendships, just a workable partnership. Spell out what each side should expect from the other, almost like drawing up a contract, as to how they can best respect and work with one another. Keep it informal, unless you see the potential for serious problems. (There's more on resolving conflicts in Chapter 18.)

You can also measure communications by how effective the communications system is that you are using. If no one is getting your e-mails, the system is not working. If everyone is getting your memos but they are using them to shoot baskets, the system is not working. Make sure people are receiving — and reading — your communications.

Your team's communication will affect the ease of transition from one phase of the project to the next, and will be reflected in the quality of the final product. Take active steps to maintain clear expectations throughout the project. Set up meetings to ensure that team members doing task A and team members doing task B know their deliverables are for the team waiting to work on task C. Team-C people should also have some representation at these meetings to address minor issues as they arise.

All parties need to know what is expected of them regarding the flow of information to each other and to you. Facilitate and encourage ongoing communication by having reliable and efficient systems in place — they will show your commitment to the initiative. “Please let shipping know what percentage of widgets are completed by Friday so they can prepare for how many you'll be sending down next week” is a reasonable request.

Yes, you will have to use a combination of good listening, subtle scouting, a keen overall awareness, and a little intuition to monitor all the intangibles of a project that won't show up on status reports or be caught by your software program. Look, listen, and keep your door open.