Objectives: Red indicates that an issue needs urgent attention, yellow means there is a potential problem, and green means everything is on track. This system provides a simple and effective way of monitoring a project’s progress and identifying areas that require improvement.

Resources needed: No resources are required for this method outside of a way of capturing information from project partners. Generally speaking for evaluation in project management, it is necessary to use a survey making tool.

Time: There is no time recommendations for this method of project evaluation. However, we would recommend using this every quarter, or whenever you normally gather feedback from partners.

Suggested number of participants: 1 to 12 maximum, however it entirely depends on the partnership

Example of practical application: After the first quarterly review, it would be recommended to send a survey out to partners. When compiling the results of the surveys, you could analyse the results to identify what needs attention, what may need attention in the future and what is going well. For each aspect use the colour of the traffic light that matches the level of progress.

Steps to apply the method:

1. Identify the key aspects of the project that you want to evaluate. This could include things like timelines, budgets, quality standards, stakeholder satisfaction, and team performance.
2. Determine the criteria for each aspect that will determine whether it is on track, at risk, or in trouble..
3. Assign a red, yellow, or green indicator to each aspect based on the criteria you’ve established. Red indicates that the aspect is in trouble and requires urgent attention, yellow means it’s at risk and needs to be closely monitored, and green means it’s on track and there are no major concerns.
4. Set up a dashboard or other tracking system to display the indicators for each aspect. This will allow you to quickly and easily monitor the project’s progress and identify any areas that require attention.
5. Regularly review the indicators and take action as needed. If an aspect is showing a red or yellow indicator, take immediate action to address the issue and bring it back on track. By following this process, you can use the traffic light method for project evaluation and ensure that your project stays on track, meets its goals, and is completed to the required quality standards.

Stage when to use this method:

• Project Evaluation

Suggested tools:

• Survey Monkey
• Google Forms

Visual sample: To learn more about the Traffic Light System, watch this video.