This Expert Explains When You Should Kill Your ProjectBy tracking three measurements of success, you'll have a better idea of whether your project is working -- or not.

There's no scientific formula to answer your question that works for all companies. But there might be one that works for you -- and you'll know it because you created it. When you set benchmarks, you give yourself a way to measure progress as you go, rather than winging it. Typically, the simplest first measures of a project's success are time, cost and scope -- and not, I should stress, revenue or profits. (Not yet, at least, because not every initiative spins out cash immediately.) Break it down this way:

Time

Every project needs a timeline with realistic -- not wishful -- weekly and monthly milestones. Factor everything in. Depending on the project's scope, for example, you may need to hire the manpower to pull it off, so factor in the weeks it'll take to pull that off. And once the clock starts ticking, consider yourself at its mercy. If you fall behind, it's not the clock's fault -- it's just the first sign that your project is failing.