A metric is essentially something that can be measured. Time and cost are the two most common metrics that come to mind when thinking about project management. However, these two metrics alone are not enough to measure project performance. It’s important to define critical metrics at the beginning of the project so that your reported status of the project can be as accurate as possible. Benefits of using metrics include that they’re able to tell us if we’re meeting milestones, they make it easier to catch mistakes before they occur, and they help to make more informed decisions.
Types of metrics:
- Quantitative
- Practical
- Directional
- Actionable
- Financial
- Milestone
- End result
Rules of selecting metrics
- Should be worth collecting
- Metric that’s being collected should actually be used
- Should be informative
- Team should understand the value of each metric
It’s important to follow these rules so that you can weed out unnecessary metrics, but also make sure that you’re collecting valuable ones. Managing too many metrics can take time away from other work required for the project the information that the metric provides might not be as valuable as we think it is. On the other hand, not having enough metrics can lead to poor decision making because of the lack of information.
Key performance indicators (KPIs)
KPIs are similar to metrics. They’re essentially measurements that describe how well business objectives are being met. The main difference between KPIs and metrics is that KPIs focus on future outcomes for the business, whereas metrics focus on a specific process.
Key: major influence in project’s success/failure
Performance: metric that can be measured and controlled
Indicator: representation of performance
KPIs are also sometimes mixed up with CSFs (critical success factors). CSFs are measurements required to meet an overall objective, whereas KPIs are an indication that a CSF has been met.
8 Comments
Autumn Coulton · March 30, 2021 at 1:02 am
Nice post, it was very clear in explaining the difference between metrics, KPIs and CSFs. I can see how KPIs and CSFs could be easily confused, so I thought the example gave a good case of how they are different. By focusing on specific goals to work towards in a smaller period of time, it can reach the overall success criteria by the end of the objective.
Brandon Kresge · March 30, 2021 at 10:41 am
Great post. I did not know too much about the material in this article, and this helped me understand a lot. I like that you said it’s not just for catching mistakes, but also for making informed decisions. It seems like metrics are a good idea no matter where you are in the project. The image at the end is also really helpful, and shows just how important setting goals are and how all that information ties together.
Sean Kinneer · March 30, 2021 at 10:51 am
Good post, Trisha. I like how you gave the types of metrics, main rules, and differences between KPIs, CSFs, and metrics . You provided a good comparison chart on the bottom of the page as well. The chart puts it all into better perspective. Metrics, KPIs and CSFs all have value in contributing to project success when properly defined and used.
Vivian Azar · March 30, 2021 at 3:42 pm
Very well put. If not for the table you’ve included at the bottom, I probably would’ve gotten easily mixed up between CSF and KPI’s, so the table really clears up a lot
Brandon Sutton · March 30, 2021 at 3:44 pm
Nice post, Trisha. There appears to be quite a bit more to metrics than I initially thought. I thought the chart was especially informative in detailing the differences between select forms of general metrics and their similar, but different, KPIs. Using KPIs seems to be a way for a project team to work diligently towards clear goals and improvement in their output. I think satisfying metrics like these can boost the overall morale of a team once they see data verifying the fruits of their labor.
Savannah Swartzel · March 30, 2021 at 3:46 pm
I don’t think I realized how many types of metrics that there were. This is a really great article and has good information. Is the list you have the order of the most used?
Manogna Pillutla · March 30, 2021 at 4:08 pm
Well organized post Trisha! Every next line had cleared my doubts from the previous one. The table is a good include which cleared how different and similar all its columns are.
Chris Kelly · March 30, 2021 at 4:52 pm
Great post Trisha. I like the image at the end, the example made it clear for me the differences between CSF / FKI / metrics. A project team with clear metrics seems like an important way to measure progress and succees.