Most programs that end up late did not fail on one bad day. They drifted, because a few basic boundaries were never set: what the contract actually requires, what done means, who decides, and how new requests get handled. These ten questions show, in about three minutes, which of those boundaries your program has and which it is missing.
Answer each question for the program you are worried about, as it is today rather than as the plan says it should be. Nothing you enter is stored or sent anywhere unless you choose to book a call.
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Why these ten questions?
Each question tests one boundary from the way Set Boundaries runs programs. The project charter sets the boundaries. One integrated schedule makes them visible. A program office keeps the team working inside them, and when something moves, leadership sees the tradeoff and decides. Programs that score well usually have all of those in place. Programs that score badly are missing several, and the gaps tend to show up in the same order: first the customer requests, then the schedule, then the milestone payments.
How to read your score
| Score | What it usually means | What to do next |
|---|---|---|
| 17 to 20: Healthy | The program has the structure most programs lack. Any Partly or No is where the next surprise is likely to come from. | Fix the weak answer before it grows. A short call can confirm whether it matters. |
| 11 to 16: Drifting | Parts of the structure exist, but the gaps are the kind that turn into missed milestones and a frustrated customer. | Set the missing boundaries now. A charter and an executable plan usually take one to two weeks. |
| 0 to 10: At risk | Several boundaries are missing. This is the pattern behind most late programs. | Start with a requirements-to-work assessment: what the team is doing versus what the contract requires. |
The questions that matter most
If you only fix two things, fix the answers to question five and question ten. When customer requests are not checked against the contract, engineering teams quietly take on work that was never priced, and the program loses sight of what done means. When done is not written down and agreed, there is no way to prove the program is finished, so it never quite closes. Both are cheap to fix early and expensive to fix late, which is why they come up in almost every program recovery.
What does each question test, and what does a No usually lead to?
Each question checks one boundary, and each missing boundary tends to fail in a predictable way. Use this table to read your No and Partly answers as specific warnings rather than a single score.
| Question | The boundary it tests | What a No usually leads to |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Signed charter or agreement | Requirements, scope, milestones and budget agreed before work starts | Each department works to its own version of the program, and disagreements surface late as rework |
| 2. The three questions | Where are we, where are we going, and what has to happen next | Busy people with no shared picture of progress, so effort spreads across everything at once |
| 3. One integrated schedule | A single plan the whole team uses every week | Separate departmental plans that never add up, and dates nobody trusts |
| 4. Known critical path | The sequence of work that sets the finish date | Work with slack gets attention while the work that drives the date slips quietly |
| 5. Requests checked against the contract | Control of customer requests and scope | Unpriced work absorbed by engineering, and a program that loses sight of what done means |
| 6. Milestones on track | Major and payment milestones protected in the plan | Cash flow pressure and a customer who starts watching every date |
| 7. Risks reviewed monthly | Risks and opportunities with mitigation built into the schedule | Risks that sit on a list until they become issues |
| 8. Weekly customer update | Communication the customer can rely on | A customer who fills the silence with assumptions and escalations |
| 9. Fast leadership decisions | Tradeoffs made visible so leadership decides | Critical dates that drift for weeks while the program waits for direction |
| 10. Agreed definition of done | A written, accepted finish line for the phase and the program | A program that is never quite finished and never quite closes |
Questions one, three and four are usually fixed together, because a project charter and an integrated master schedule are built in the same one to two weeks. Questions five and ten are the ones most often behind a program recovery.
How does this check compare with a formal program assessment?
It is a quick self-check, not an audit. Formal assessments look much deeper at one part of a program, usually the schedule or the baseline. The check is the right first step when you want to know where to look, and the formal reviews are the right step when a customer, an auditor or a contract requires evidence.
| Assessment | What it examines | Who usually runs it | When it fits |
|---|---|---|---|
| This health check | Whether ten basic program boundaries exist and are used | The program leader, in about three minutes | Any time you need a fast read on where a program is exposed |
| DCMA 14-point schedule assessment | How well an integrated master schedule is built: logic, constraints, float, durations, missed tasks and a critical path test | A scheduler or project controls analyst working on the schedule file, or a DCMA analyst on government contracts | Before submitting a schedule to a defense customer, or when the dates do not seem believable |
| GAO schedule assessment | Whether a schedule is comprehensive, well constructed, credible and controlled, the four characteristics in the GAO Schedule Assessment Guide | Government auditors and agency reviewers, and contractors preparing for them | Major federal programs and any schedule likely to be audited |
| Integrated baseline review | Whether the performance measurement baseline covers the full scope, is realistic, and has its risks understood by both sides | The government program office and the contractor, together | Contracts with earned value management requirements, early in the contract and after major changes |
| Independent program assessment | Requirements versus the work being done, status, schedule credibility, the team and the customer relationship | An outside program manager such as Set Boundaries | A program under customer pressure, or one leadership no longer has a clear view of |
A good score here does not mean a schedule will pass a 14-point check, and a clean schedule file does not mean the program is healthy. They test different things, which is why programs under scrutiny often need both.
When should you run the check?
Whenever the answer would change what you do next. In practice, these are the moments when the result is most useful:
- Right after a contract award, before the team settles into habits. Missing boundaries are cheapest to set in the first weeks.
- Before a major design review, qualification or first article, when a weak plan is about to meet a hard date.
- When a new program manager takes over, to see quickly what was set up and what was not.
- When the customer changes tone, asking for more frequent updates, recovery plans or meetings with leadership.
- Before a payment milestone, so there is still time to protect it if the answers are weak.
- Every quarter on any program that matters, because boundaries erode quietly as people, priorities and requests change.
Running the check more than once on the same program is useful in itself. A score that drops between two runs shows drift while it is still easy to correct.
What can the check not tell you?
It cannot tell you whether the answers are right. It records what the person taking it believes, and the most common blind spot is a leader answering Yes to a schedule or a charter that exists on paper but is not what the team works to. If you are unsure, ask two or three people on the program to take it separately and compare the results.
It also does not measure technical risk, cost performance or the quality of the schedule file. Those need their own tools: a schedule health check for the plan, earned value data and an estimate at completion for cost, and design reviews for technical maturity. The value of the check is that it points you to the right one first. If you are not sure which, a requirements-to-work assessment is usually where the answers start to agree.
What happens if you book a call
Your score and the questions you answered No go with the booking, so Holly starts where you are instead of from a blank page. In a short call she will tell you where she would look first, whether Set Boundaries can help, and what the first step would be. You speak with Holly directly. If your program does not need outside help, she will say so.
Who this is for
The check is written for leaders of aerospace, defense and maritime programs: presidents and general managers, directors of program management and directors of engineering, especially at companies that have just won a major program or have one under pressure from the customer. It works for development programs, recoveries and programs trying to close out.
References
- US Government Accountability Office, GAO-16-89G, Schedule Assessment Guide: Best Practices for Project Schedules.
- US Government Accountability Office, GAO-20-195G, Cost Estimating and Assessment Guide.
- Defense Contract Management Agency, 14-point schedule assessment, as described in DCMA earned value management program analysis guidance.
- SAE International / EIA-748, Earned Value Management Systems.
- US Department of Defense, Program Manager's Guide to the Integrated Baseline Review Process.
- National Defense Industrial Association, Integrated Program Management Division, Planning and Scheduling Excellence Guide (PASEG).
Questions
Common questions
How long does the program health check take?
About three minutes. There are ten questions, each answered Yes, Partly or No, and the result appears as soon as the tenth is answered. Answer for the program as it actually runs today rather than as the plan describes it, because the gap between the two is usually the most useful thing the check reveals. You can change any answer and the score updates immediately.
Is anything I enter stored or shared?
No. The check runs entirely in your browser and nothing is stored or sent. If you decide to book a call from the result, your score and the questions you answered No are added to the booking notes so Holly can prepare. You can edit or delete that note in the booking form before you confirm, and nothing is sent unless you book.
What score should a healthy program have?
A program scoring 17 or more out of 20 usually has the structure most programs lack: a charter, one integrated schedule, a known critical path, controlled customer requests and regular customer updates. Scores from 11 to 16 suggest the program is drifting, and 10 or below means several boundaries are missing. The individual No answers matter more than the total, because each one is a specific place where problems start.
My program scored badly. Does that mean it will fail?
Not necessarily. A low score means the program is missing boundaries that most successful programs have, so problems are likely to surface as missed milestones or a frustrated customer. Many programs recover once the requirements are clarified, uncontrolled work is stopped and a credible plan is built. The earlier the gaps are fixed, the cheaper recovery is, which is why the check is worth taking before the customer raises concerns.
Can Holly walk through the check with me?
Yes. Book a short call from the result and your score and answers travel with the booking, so the conversation starts where your program is. Holly will tell you where she would look first and whether Set Boundaries can help. If the check does not load in your browser, you can book the call directly and she will cover the same questions with you.
Is this the same as a DCMA 14-point schedule check?
No. The DCMA 14-point assessment tests how well an integrated master schedule file is built, looking at logic links, constraints, float, durations, missed tasks and whether the critical path holds together. This health check asks whether the program has the boundaries a schedule depends on: an agreed charter, controlled customer requests, a known critical path, regular communication and an agreed definition of done. A program can pass one and fail the other, so programs under customer scrutiny often need both.
Have a question that is not here? Ask Holly on a short call
