Measure It

Measuring your project’s progress and presenting the measurements in an understandable format provides a robust means for managing a project.

1. Identify project attributes such as inputs, processes, and outputs to measure. Features must have meaning and importance to the users.

2. Attributes must be quantifiable. You need to put a number to the feature being measured. Quantifiable presents what you know and not what you think.

3. Measurements must be objective. Avoid using your opinion when measuring. If the measurements are subjective, users must know that they are subjective.

4. Measurements should be presented in a simple, straightforward manner. The users should spend more time thinking about how the measurements impact them than figuring out what the measurements represent.

5. If you can, present measurements in both tables and charts. I have found some people favor a matrix, and some people favor graphs. Also, use different colors to help focus the eye on the most critical areas.

6. The measurements need to have meaning to the users. Different users may need to have other measurements.

7. Finally, you should provide measurements periodically throughout the project life cycle. Keeping the team and stakeholders updated on progress is critical.