Project Metrics
How do we measure the success of a project? We use project metrics. Project metrics are a critical part of any project. Metrics give us a glance at the important data of the project. Project metrics have to be relevant to the project or else there is no use for them.
What are project metrics?
Project metrics are the way to measure the success of a project. Everyone has a subjective understanding of their project, but metrics give you data. Data you can see and measure. Everyone has a different understanding of success and failure of a project. Having project metrics gives everyone the same success criteria. Having different ideas of success will never make for a successful project.
How are project metrics useful:
- Helps to monitor the status of the project
- Can predict risks and trends
- Make sure the team is on the same page
- Can target goals
- Manage and monitor costs
- Create a baseline
- Help for future planning
- Find successful approaches
How to choose the right project metrics:
- Measurable
- Understandable
- Choose metrics based on your project needs. Select the most important metrics to your project, having too many metrics would be overwhelming and a lot of data.
Most Common Metrics:
The most common project metrics are time/schedule, budget, resources, scope, resource utilization, customer satisfaction and schedule variance.
3 metrics we are monitoring on our projects:
(With each adaptation Professor Demarco throws at us, these are 3 big metrics we look at and determine if there is a change):
- Scope of a project – determining and documenting a list of specific project goals, deliverables, features, functions, tasks, deadlines, and ultimately costs. It is what needs to be achieved and the work that must be done to deliver a project. For our projects, we used a Gantt chart to show the project across dates and can keep the project on track.
2. Schedule – communicates what work needs to be performed, which resources of the organization will perform the work and the timeframes in which that work needs to be performed. The project schedule should reflect all of the work associated with delivering the project on time. The project schedule is important to track milestones and deadlines. When creating a schedule you need to plan for extra time in your project for unforeseen issues. The Gantt chart is also helpful when looking at schedules.
3. Budget – estimates the total cost of a project. A project budget template includes a detailed estimate of all costs that are likely to be incurred before the project is completed. Poor budget planning usually results in projects going over budget. Plan for extra expenses you did not budget for. Most of the time this is the most important project metric and the metric the higher-ups are most worried about. Many companies use budget databases to track costs.
Using Metrics in your organization:
- Explain the metrics you will be tracking. Make sure everyone knows and understands what you are tracking and explain the data and results.
- Show how you will be tracking them. Display the metrics in an easy to understand way.
- Many organizations use Dashboards to display their metrics:
Metrics are an important key in any project no matter how big or small.
Resources:
Kerzner, Harold. Project Management: a Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling, and Controlling. 10th ed., John Wiley & Sons, 2009.
Project Success Metrics: Keeping Projects on Time & on Budgethttps://www.projectinsight.net/project-management-basics/project-management-schedule https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/knowledge/finance/project-budget-overview/
How to define the scope of a project
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