23 Project Metrics John Spacey, updated on
Project metrics are techniques for measuring a project. They are typically calculated on an ongoing basis to provide management with information that can be used to direct and control projects. Most project metrics indicate if a project is on schedule and budget. Others indicate secondary factors such as risk. The following are common project metrics.
Actual CostThe total expenditures of a project or activity to date.Defect DensityThe number of defects expressed as a ratio to complexity. For example, defects per thousand lines of code is a common measure of defect density. Used as an indicator of deliverable quality.Defect Resolution RateThe percentage of defects that are currently resolved, often reported by defect severity. Used as an indicator of release quality.Cost Performance IndexThe ratio of earned value to actual cost. Measures the percentage of expenditures that have achieved a deliverable.Cost VarianceThe amount that a project is over or under budget at a point in time. Calculated as earned value - actual cost.Design StabilityThe number of change requests that have required design or architecture changes.Earned ValueEarned value is the budget authorized for work completed. It is used to measure how much you have delivered to date as a financial figure.Estimate To CompleteEstimate to complete is the cost required to complete the remaining work for a project or activity at a point in time.Estimated Time To CompleteThe estimated time required to complete the remaining work for a project or activity.Milestone AchievementThe percentage of project milestones that are met successfully.Payback PeriodThe amount of time for an investment in a project to break even, often expressed in months.Percent CompleteAn estimate of the currently completed portion of work for activities and the project as a whole.Project VelocityThe amount of work that a team completes in a sprint often measured in story points. A common agile metric.Requirements VolatilityThe sum of all changes to requirements including new, changed and dropped requirements. Often expressed as a percentage of the original number of requirements. For example, if there are 20 changes and there were 100 original requirements, requirements volatility is (20/100)*100 = 20%.Resource UtilizationThe percentage of available hours for assigned resources that are currently being charged to project activities. A figure over 100% indicates overtime.Return On InvestmentThe projected return for a project investment.Risk ExposureThe total risk the project currently faces after risk treatment. Project risk is typically modeled with risk matrices. It is calculated as the sum of all probabilities × impacts for identified risks.Risk Management EffectivenessThe percentage of project issues that were identified as risks and managed in advance of the event.Schedule Performance IndexThe ratio of earned value to planned value.Schedule VarianceThe difference between committed dates and actual dates in days.Scope ChangesThe number of change requests that have resulted in a change to scope. An indicator of project stability.Story PointsThe number of story points yet to be completed. Commonly used to measure epics and sprints for agile projects. Typically depicted on a burndown chart that plots outstanding story points versus time.Variance At CompletionThe budget surplus or deficit at completion of a project.Project MetricsThis is the complete list of articles we have written about project metrics.If you enjoyed this page, please consider bookmarking Simplicable.
Risk ExposureA definition of risk exposure with example calculations.Critical Success FactorsA few examples of critical success factors.
TrendingThe most popular articles on Simplicable in the past day.New ArticlesRecent posts or updates on Simplicable. Site Map
© 2010-2024 Simplicable. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction of materials found on this site, in any form, without explicit permission is prohibited. View credits & copyrights or citation information for this page. |