Having discussed on how to track projects effectively using metrics from a PMO perspective, (see How to use Project Metrics into effective use) , let us now look into each of the measurement aspect using e-PMO dashboard. Revisiting some of the key points again…. First and foremost:
1) Ensure that the metrics are aligned with the organisational or programme goals, i.e., Financial, Process, Customer and HR related to say the least.
2) Ensure that the metrics cover the vital areas of the project. i.e., they focus on deliverables, Customer satisfaction, Intelligence, Quality, Development, Scope, HR, and last but not the least Risks and Issues.
3) Ensure that clear metrics criteria are established and communicated to all relevant stake holders.
Now, you can start setting up the tool to measure and track the project based on the nature and requirement of the project and the criteria’s agreed.
ENTERPRISE PROJECT MANAGEMENT DASHBOARD
To start with let us again realise the importance of Enterprise Project Management Dashboard. EPM Dashboard is normally used to show the end to end project status across all phases in a given project. It is especially useful in large budget projects that would have multiple stakeholders and sizeable end result, service or product. Here, I have referred to a large scale IT project.
Naturally, the EPM dashboard that we are assuming here is of a large proportion with: Rich UI, Consolidation of variety of tools such as MS Project 2007, Testing tools (standard or custom), Reporting tools (standard SQL reporting services or custom), Risk capturing tools (standard or custom) all linked through common databases (DB’s) that can connect to one another through complex or interdependent queries.
MEASURING PROCESS and QUALITY USING e-PMO
For each of the main areas of the project, the planning phase is of utmost importance. And a lot of emphasis and time needs to be given to Process and Quality, because these form the foundation or pillar of the entire project at hand.
For PROCESS, one needs to look at two aspects. One aspect is about measuring the result out of the existing process being followed, such as timeliness of delivery, scope compliance, software defects that were failed during testing, Regression, Defects found during inspection. These talk about the process adherence and the laxity in following the processes already defined in the organisation. While, the other aspect is about measuring the Quality Audits and the improvements that need to be brought in the processes for better project management, i.e., their effectiveness to ensure that what gets measured is actually acted upon.
Though these can be measured in varied ways, but they address a common problem of following processes that ultimately impact the project completion and the delivery of the product, solution, service or result.
A) Measuring – On Time Delivery and Scope Adherence – One of the standard tool for measuring On Time delivery of the project or its phases is MS Project. Couple this with a custom or standard tool for measuring the Requirements planned and delivered and you get to measure these two important things. Coming to Scope Adherence, one can take one more step such as measuring the Requirements Traceability Matrix. These can be measured by aligning the custom tools or say MS Project, to a centralised Database that will form the foundation for the e-PMO. This can be achieved in the following way:
a. Using a standard DB like Oracle or SQL or even MS Access (depending upon the nature and size of the project).
b. Use Microsoft Inter ops for reading the field values from MS Project or any such API’s to read the data from the customised tools that might have been used for tracking projects. Similarly, the scope compliance can be fetched from appropriate tool or source. If there is no tool capturing the requirements and measuring RTM, then ensure to put one.
c. Once the data is captured in the database of the e-PMO tool, you can then display the data through a UI e.g., customised views in DB itself (e.g., in MS Access) or SQL reporting services or SharePoint or by simply developing a portal using .NET or Java or any such programming language.
B) Measuring – Software Defects, Defects found during testing or internal software testing, Defects found inspection of some tangible product, Software Regressions, Defects found during service inspections. Whey I have clubbed these together is because these are directly related to production or development defects raised either internally in the production before passing it to Testing dept, or found during the Testing or inspection phase. For these, there are already lots of readymade software or tools available in the market. The trick is to align or make these tools talk to the centralised DB used in the e-PMO. Once this is achieved, you will more or less have a complete view of the problems affecting the project from a process or quality perspective.
C) Measuring – Quality Audits Results and Actions, Many organisations take Audits as mere formality or simply a tick in the box so as to finally show compliance to the process. The negative impact of this is often observed over a sizable period of time where either the product or the project at hand goes through the risk of failure or when the organisation is on the verge of losing its certification. So, it is important to take this aspect seriously. And one of the best way to do it is to measure the process of auditing, its timeliness, its results and the preventive or corrective actions through a tool and then align it to a centralised DB or take the results to display on the e-PMO dashboard. You can take a step further to load it with appropriate literature to help the personnel to resolve their doubts or seek clarifications on the process and tools as well. One can also leverage it to send out email alerts or personalised alerts on the portal itself for process adherence or any of the preventive or corrective actions that need to be taken before a particular time.
A centralised and dedicated approach will lead to a more effective and realistic measurement to help derive benefits from the process and quality for project success.
In my next blog, we shall discuss in detail about measuring deliverables using Earned Value Analysis and touch upon Financial Goals that can be measured with EVM and roll it up to add and relate to Accounting to measure ROI etc.