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Which Metrics Make the Most Sense?

Which Metrics Make the Most Sense?
Mature project management offices (PMOs) are shifting away from the iron triangle to measure the true success of their project.  

Key Takeaways 

• The most mature PMOs are relying on metrics beyond time, budget and scope to determine whether their project was a success. 
• To determine which metrics will best help your project’s story, it helps to collaborate with senior leadership and key internal and external stakeholders. 

PMI Picks offers the following insights for all project managers to consider when it comes to metrics: 

For many PMOs, success has traditionally been defined by the tried-and-true iron triangle: Was the project completed on time, on budget and within scope? But among the best PMOs in the world, a shift is happening in which metrics matter. 

Instead of relying on time, budget and scope, the Top 10 Percent — a group of 230 PMOs that make up the top 10% of organizations according to the PMI PMO maturity index — are relying on a wider variety of measures and higher frequency of measurement to gauge the success of their work. That’s because when the success story of a project is limited to time, scope and budget, there is no real evidence being shared about how the real world was impacted by the work being done and the people or business it was being done for. 

Even still, according to the PMI report Measuring What Matters, the majority of organizations have an average of 7.1 metrics in place for every project, with typically four that are linked to the iron triangle. That leaves only three metrics that measure the story of the project’s success. 

To truly measure the results of a project, project leaders need to evolve the metrics they have in place to go beyond the usual suspects. These metrics may include customer satisfaction, cultural shifts — such as the willingness of employees to adapt a new process — or operational efficiencies. 

To decide which metrics make the most sense for your project, it is important to involve senior leadership. According to PMI research, however, only 39% engage the C-suite. Measures being developed without collaboration between the PMO and senior leadership risk the development of metrics that fail to align to the organization’s strategic vision. 

In addition to leadership, the Top 10 Percent organizations further refine measurement by involving a greater variety of stakeholders, including customers, consultants and external stakeholders, to ensure metrics focus on the outcomes that really matter. 

Once key metrics have been identified, these measures should be actively reviewed by the right people. This should be a purposeful, collaborative reflection on what the measures are saying to tell the story of project impact in the best way and inform future projects. This reflection should then become part of daily team meetings, project reviews and part of monitoring PMO performance.