Answering these questions often starts with transforming project success from a single, ambitious end target into a series of small, incremental goals that create a stream of positive outcomes for the executive. These short-term milestones allow you to demonstrate forward momentum. They also help teams reduce risk, reevaluate, and, most importantly, allow the executive to show success in order to secure more funding or extend the timeline.
Because a project in midstream could lose funding, team members, or a key supporter at any time, project managers need to deliver results early and often. Once you have a firm grasp of success and a set of feasible deliverables, work backward to set interim milestones that inch you closer to your ultimate goal.