I have more than 14 years of experience creating and developing program/project and organizational metrics and defining and institutionalizing department processes and procedures.

This article focuses on the processes and procedures needed to create a successful measurements reporting environment for your company, organization, team or group of work activities, projects and contracts.

Objectives of a Metrics Program

The purpose and objective of a measurements/metrics reporting environment is to create a series of monitoring and tracking indicators (i.e., metrics) that accurately reflect the health, progress, goodness and state of affairs of development and/or sustainable programs and projects.

The indicators should clearly state what is going well, areas of difficulties, and potential future risks and issues. They should lead the teams to be proactive instead of reactive to minimize inefficiencies and increase productivity. Once the measurements/metrics are fully mature and implemented, they will require little additional investment of the team’s time and, as a net result, help make them work more productively.

The full circle self-correcting measurements/metrics reporting tempo consists of the following four phases: 1-Data Collection, 2- Analysis, 3-Leadership Review, and 4-Feedback and Corrective Actions. This iterative process is typically performed on a monthly basis. Therefore, evaluating the performance of the organizational projects and programs in the current month is based on the previous month’s results.

Phase 1: Data Collection

The Data Collection phase is the gathering of base measurements, raw data or primitive information elements from the source systems or applications. The information is automatically imported, semi-automatic uploaded, or manually entered into a measurement repository.

The measurement repository is a data store which can include an Excel spreadsheet, RDBMS (Rational Database Measurement System), such as SQL Server, Oracle, MS-Access, etc., or file cabinet (not likely, but a possible option). Measurement performance data is pulled from different sources and stored into a centralized storage system for measurement processing and reporting.

The collected measurement data becomes the measurement/metrics primary data. This information should be backed up and saved for future recovery if data corruption is to ever occur. At the highest performance level this process should be automated and completed within minutes. If not automated and optimized for performance, the phase should take no more than 5 days/one business week to complete.

Phase 2: Analysis

The Analysis phase is the documented response to explain and describe the current performance behavior results. When different program areas are analyzed, an indicator is used to show the status of each area and its performance. Each and every indicator should include a full analysis, even if a majority of companies only require it for troubled or alarmed conditions. To create the most effective measurement program, it is important to not only analyze and describe how problems are being handle, but how the non-trouble areas are performing well. The analysis should be written to address the following item and in the following order:

• Articulate as simply as possible the problem, issue or circumstance;
• Explain what actions and steps have been taken;
• State the known impacts and potential risks, if any;
• Describe the underlying root cause leading to the current situation;
• Communicate the resolution plan with anticipated, expected or known date; and
• Tell how this current matter will be prevented in the future.

Although these six analytical attributes may come easier for troubled and alarmed reporting indicators, they can also be followed for indicators which are performing as expected or better than expected.

Example: Analysis of a Program’s Cost Indicator That Is Performing Well

Here is an example of a documented analysis for the program’s cost indicator (known as CPI for Cost Performance Index). The program’s cost continues to remain within 1% of the contracted value (i.e., budget) at this point in time. There are no unforeseen disruptions or cost increases throughout the life of this program. The main reason why the cost is so well maintained is because the program management team performs weekly cost review of project activities and adjusts resources with more experienced and senior analysts when delays are greater than 10%.

Phase 3: Leadership Review

Upon collections of the measurement data, review of charts and inclusion of related analysis, the set of indicators are put into a logical sequence order and presented to the organization’s leadership team. The performance results are explained and questions posed by the leadership team are answered.

The goal of the review is to identify the status of programs, projects and contracts performance activities by sharing the good and bad, potential risks and other issues to consider. It is an honest and transparent exchange of information on the health, progress, goodness, difficulties and challenges of each program, project and contract.

Phase 4: Feedback and Corrective Actions

As a result of the review, actionable items and risks, additional analysis and/or improvement opportunities can be initiated and requested by the leadership team. The follow-up is usually performed at the next Leadership Review, but it can be a shorter turnaround depending on the nature of a specific issue.

In addition, the resolution and outcome of the feedback and corrective actions can become documented lessons and operational improvements that are incorporated into the organization’s processes, procedures, standards, templates, tools and applications.

The key success factors of the measurement/metrics program is that the indicators are integrated into the practices and procedures of the company’s activities. They are not performed as tedious activities to defend the existence of the programs and projects to senior management. In other word, metrics are used to make the numbers count!