The best way to gauge the "health" of a project is to review a concise set of project metrics known as Key Performance Indicators (KPI's)

The project manager needs to know if the project is going to plan, and if not, what corrections are needed to get back on course (or plan a different course).

There are numerous Key Performance Indicators that could be used to determine the health of a project. As a minimum, the Project Manager needs KPIs that answer the following questions: