Two Ways to Jumpstart a Metrics Program
There are two approaches for organizations looking to start collecting metrics. One is a formal, structured approach and one is an unstructured “let’s do it” approach.
The Structured Approach
One way to get a metrics program started is to get a set of key stakeholders together and go through an exercise to put a formal process in place. The overall steps would include:
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Identify criteria for success. This is the key first step. First you need to define what success means to your organization. You would normally look at your business plan, strategy, vision, departmental objectives, etc.
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Assign potential metrics. Identify potential metrics for each of your success criteria that provide an indication of whether you are achieving success. Identify as many potential metrics as possible.
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Look for a balance. The potential list of metrics should be placed into categories to make sure that they provide a balanced view of the organization. Look for metrics that provide information in the areas such as cost, effort hours, project success, quality, productivity, client satisfaction, business value, etc.
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Prioritize the balanced list of metrics. Depending on how many metrics you have identified, prioritize the list to include only those that have the least cost to collect and provide the most value to the organization.
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Set targets. The raw metric may be of some interest, but the measure of success comes from comparing your actual data against a predefined target.
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Collect and analyze the information. Now the hard part - set up the processes to collect the metrics and analyze them on an ongoing basis.
The Unstructured Approach
The problem with some organizations is that they are paralyzed because they cannot agree on the correct and perfect set of metrics. The metrics do not need to be perfect the first time. Another approach is to just start finding and collecting data. The basic philosophy is “just collect something, even if it’s wrong.” In this approach, people get together and look for information that can be easily captured, and from which certain aspects of success can be inferred.
This is not as bad as it sounds. After you collect and analyze the data, you get a sense for whether the metrics are providing value and whether you need to find more or different ones. This approach gets you into the habit of collecting and analyzing metrics first and allows you to improve your metrics over time.
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