Project management: does a deliverable-based bonus improve quality?
In a project, a bonus tied to deliverables may seem to turn a general expectation into a concrete commitment. The more precise managerial question is whether that bonus improves work quality, or mainly increases the output explicitly rewarded.
What the literature establishes
Edward L. Deci, Richard Koestner and Richard M. Ryan (1999, Psychological Bulletin) synthesised experiments examining the effects of extrinsic rewards on intrinsic motivation. Certain expected, contingent tangible rewards subsequently reduce free-choice engagement in an activity that was initially interesting. This finding concerns motivation after the reward and does not mean that every bonus immediately undermines performance.
The distinction between quantity and quality
Christopher P. Cerasoli, Jessica M. Nicklin and Michael T. Ford (2014, Psychological Bulletin) show, in a meta-analysis, that intrinsic motivation and extrinsic incentives jointly predict performance. Intrinsic motivation is a stronger predictor of quality, whereas incentives explain more of the quantity produced. For a project manager, counting accepted deliverables is therefore not enough to assess a bonus's effects.
The premature conclusion
One might conclude that bonuses should be removed to preserve interest in the work. These studies do not justify that blanket rule: they call for examining the nature of the task, the form of the reward and the performance actually sought. Standardised production and design work present different assessment challenges. (our executive and employee training programmes)
What the evidence cannot settle
These reviews do not constitute a trial of a bonus policy in Lausanne project teams. Experiments on interest in an activity do not reproduce all the constraints of paid employment, while an association between motivation and performance does not establish causality. Everyday practice adds a difficulty: when recipients or tasks change, an increase in output may wrongly be attributed to the scheme.
A practical check in Lausanne
In Lausanne, whether in a medtech project, a collaboration with a higher education institution, an international sports organisation or a Lake Geneva region scale-up, SHR's “Project Management” programme could use an existing bonus scheme as a practical exercise. Before the next award period, define a quality criterion independent of volume — for example, no substantial corrections required during a review using a common assessment rubric — and have deliverables assessed without disclosing their bonus status. Record separately the number of deliverables and the proportion meeting this criterion at the first review, documenting their complexity and the resources used. Comparison with a comparable earlier period will not prove causality, but will help establish whether increased output actually comes with the quality sought. To go further: explore the Project Management training in Lausanne in the canton of Vaud, or browse our executive and employee training programmes in Switzerland.
In pictures: Project Management in Lausanne
- project management
- Lausanne
- research
- training lausanne