Since metrics keep stakeholders in tune to the health of a project, metrics must be a clear and truthful representation of project status. Consider this scenario.

You are the project manager of a software upgrade project for the human resources (HR) department of a major import/export company. In order to complete the software upgrade, hardware must be replaced in your company location in Brazil, but the Albany, NY, and San Antonio, TX, locations already have the appropriate hardware in place. The client has authorized a budget of $95,000 and wants the software ready in all locations in six months when the licensing on the current software expires.

Your Assistant Vice President (AVP) of the information technology (IT) department has called you in to discuss the project and asks you to put together a set of metrics that will communicate the project status to her, to the local IT teams, the hardware vendor, and any other stakeholders. Your AVP has asked to meet again in three days with your recommendation which you must be able to defend.

Prepare your metrics of project health and be ready to defend the following:

• how many metrics you will use and why that is the “right” number,
• what the metrics are that you have chosen and why,
• explain that you will use both quantitative and qualitative metrics what they are and why,
• explain how and when you’ll get the data,
• what metrics will allow you to find mistakes early enough in the project for correction, and,
• explain which metrics will improve the HR client’s satisfaction.

Remember that metrics must have a purpose, have a baseline and target, a way to measure, a way to appropriately interpret them and a reporting structure. Be ready to defend your choices relative to those things too. You will present your ideas in a formal paper for the purposes of this class.