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Technical Program Health Check

Use these 12 questions to identify where a complex technical program is most likely to lose control. Score each statement from 0 to 2, then use the interpretation below.

Scoring: 0 = not established · 1 = partially established · 2 = clearly established and actively used.

1. Purpose & outcomes

Is there a shared, measurable definition of why the program exists, what is in/out of scope, and what success means?

2. Decision authority

Are decision rights clear for scope, cost, schedule, technical baselines, priorities, and release?

3. Integrated baseline

Do scope, WBS, schedule, resources/cost, milestones, and performance rules form one coherent approved baseline?

4. Schedule logic

Does the integrated schedule expose real dependencies, integration events, long-lead work, gates, and forecast variance?

5. Requirements & technical maturity

Can the team tell which requirements, interfaces, architectures, and designs are mature enough for the work being authorized?

6. Cross-functional integration

Are hardware, software, systems, test, infrastructure, suppliers, and operations synchronized around explicit integration events?

7. RAID discipline

Are risks, opportunities, issues, and dependencies owned, reviewed, and escalated using agreed thresholds?

8. Change control

Can the program distinguish normal execution management from a change that requires impact analysis and baseline approval?

9. Metrics

Do program metrics reveal performance and forecast risk rather than simply report activity?

10. Verification evidence

Is there a traceable path from critical requirements to verification method, planned evidence, closure, and acceptance?

11. Gate readiness

Do lifecycle reviews test objective entry/exit criteria and evidence instead of just confirming that a meeting occurred?

12. Release & handover

Are release authority, acceptance evidence, deployment, rollback, training/documentation, and operational handover defined?

Interpretation

What the score means.

19–24 · Controlled

Core management and technical control mechanisms are established. Focus on weak individual dimensions and whether teams are actually using the system consistently.

12–18 · Exposed

The program has useful structure but material gaps are likely to create forecast surprises, slow decisions, integration churn, or weak readiness evidence.

0–11 · Fragile

The program is relying heavily on individual effort and informal coordination. Establishing the core baseline, governance, and lifecycle controls should be a priority.

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