Metrics

Posted by Flib on January 17th, 2009 filed in Business

When we take over a project, frequently we find that there is nothing to show how far along a project is and sometimes even worse that there is no requirements statements as to what the project is actually for.

Without knowing what your goals are and how you measure up how can you tell when you have met them?

You Can’t!

Metrics, also known as Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are how you know where you currently are. This could be something as simple as your annual turnover and profits, or perhaps something far less concrete like a metric developed from user interface testing.

Goals are generally only useful if you know you current state and by extension; where you want to be.
An unreachable goal doesn’t help anyone. If there is no chance of ever hitting it then why set it? It will simply cause stress which would be energy far better channelled into hitting an attainable goal.
For example, if your current turnover is 10Million Pounds a year you want this to grow. If the average growth in your industry is 10%/year then growing at 2% above the average is a reasonable goal.

Only when you have both a goal and a measurement of how far from your goal you are can you really plan how you are going to get there. If your aim is to reduce energy use in the workplace by 50% then once you have the measurements of how much if currently being used and by what devices (the metrics). You then set your goal ‘reduce 12KWhrs of power useage a day down to at least 6KWhrs’ only then can then plan how you will accomplish the goal.