Predictive metrics to spot a failing project
Remember R+C+S+O = FP? Revisions, Changes, Overwork and Skewness are the 4 buzzwords that can act as the leading indicators for a troubled project! Let us understand them a little more and also find out the best way to track them on a daily basis.
Frequent Revisions to the project plan
(Due to Indecision, the inexperience of project sponsors/ leaders, poor prioritization)
In the traditional waterfall model of project management, making a detailed project plan before the start of the project is the responsibility of the project manager. It brings clarity to project goals and deliverables. A good project plan gives direction to the efforts of the project team.
However, when the project manager does many changes to the WBS (work breakdown structure) frequently, it shows his/her inability to identify subtasks, visualize the critical path and assign priorities. It could be a result of multiple factors such as a lack of clarity or understanding, indecisive nature or lack of skills required for the job.
Thus, ‘frequent revisions in project plan’ becomes a good indicator for assessing the risk of delayed project delivery and can help the project sponsor/ PMO take early corrective actions.
Multiple Changes to the project team
(Indicator for abundance or deficit of resources, changes in roles, misaligned metric)
Resource management is a very critical part of the entire project management process. So when the resource manager does not carry out the process of resource estimation, prioritization and allocation diligently, it results into sub-optimal resource pool indicated by abundance or deficit of resources. The resource mismatch sure is an indication that it is a failing project.
Ad hoc changes in the roles and responsibilities of resources leave them unclear of their job description and the project suffers. The performance measurement metrics can be used to spot these disruptions which can give insights into whether the project is at the risk of failure.
Skewness in the managerial time spent on projects
(Collaboration break down, loose delegation, tight controls)
Managerial time spent on various projects is directly correlated to the level of delegation that he/she does to the team leaders. Too much or too little delegation is harmful to project health.
Timesheet analysis metrics serve as a mirror of team efficiency. The PMO, CEO and CFO of the organization can use the timesheet metrics of the project managers and team leaders to spot the problematic projects which run a high risk of delays.
Overworked help desk team
(Faulty offerings, misaligned expectations)
The help desk team manages the defects or issue tickets. Tracking the volume and type of help tickets can be used as a predictive tool for analyzing the quality and performance of various project resources.
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This dashboard can be a combination of operational, financial and strategic goals that helps project monitoring and spotting of any risks.
