Project Management Metrics, KPIs, and Dashboards: A Guide to Measuring and Monitoring Project Performance

by Harold R. Kerzner

Essential strategies from Harold Kerzner on measuring project management performance

The maze-like path of today's projects reflects a business environment that's growing in complexity. Factors influencing projects, such as new advancements in computer technology, an unpredictable economy, and the increase in stakeholder involvement make metrics and key performance indicators (KPI) for project management an important focus. Such measures are commonly used to help an organization define and evaluate how successful it is, typically, in terms of making progress towards its long-term organizational goals.

Project Management Metrics, KPIs, and Dashboards helps functional managers gain a thorough understanding of what metrics are and how they can be best implemented to gain traction in a fast-paced and diverse working atmosphere. With content aligned with PMI's PMBOK® Guide, this book offers extensive coverage on KPIs and how they may be monitored, using techniques such as business dashboards to assist in prescribing meaningful business strategies. After reading this book, functional managers will bolster their awareness of what good metrics management really entails�and be armed with the knowledge to measure performance more effectively.

This book begins with basic KPI principles, helping functional managers deal with such key issues as:

Successfully integrating KPIs and metrics into managing a project within a business strategy

Important business dashboard techniques used in monitoring performance

What is really important to different stakeholders in a project

Managing resistance to change

Next the book explores the key questions to ask before implementing a dashboard or reporting system. Some of these questions include:

What are your needs?

What is involved in integration?

What's involved in operations and maintenance?

What does the system cost?

How long will the system last?

Throughout the book, helpful illustrations clarify complex concepts and processes. These illustrations are also available as PowerPoint slides for course and seminar presentations.

Genres: Business, Management, Nonfiction, Design

562 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2011

Reviews

[Kris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kerzner’s writing makes project management not as terrible as it might be. How’s that for for a ringing endorsement? In all honesty, his style is easy to read and sometimes funny, which is fortunate for those of us who are taking project management classes out of necessity rather than desire. I believe I have one more Kerzner tome left in my next class, so we’ll see how it goes.

[Sam Motes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kerzner is well-recognized as a thought leader in the field of Project Management and he shows it in this work. He builds the case for getting to know all your stakeholders, finding out what is important to them for the success of the given project, quantifying that somehow, building KPIs and metrics to drive dashboards to convey the status clearly to them, and then executing on an appropriate cadence for communication on the dashboards. Being flexible to the different stakeholders with targeted and actionable content without getting into a reporting nigh mare to try to keep up with the amount of data needed is the critical balancing act to be reached that should be weighted towards stakeholders with the most power to impact the project to keep things moving when conflict arises. The triple constraints are table stakes today. Managing perceived value of the deliverable by managing the stakeholder’s expectations and execution is the key to success. Kerzner does a good job of discussing the different type of KPIs to help drive to a measurable KPI since if things are measured you can’t truly manage them.

[Petrov · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found it useful

Seeking info on measurement of project activities I found some practical advice. Second half and Chapter 8 is particularly interesting, but first 25% of the book is not.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great!

[catechism · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not exactly riveting reading, but there's a lot of good information and examples.

[Mattheus Guttenberg · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dense, dry text on project management measurement and tools.