Insights from data tell the story of a business. It makes sense that you already use metrics for project management to make sure tasks stay on track, finish on time, and stay within budget. However, if that’s the only thing you use your project management data for, you may not be getting the most out of the numbers you’re collecting.
At their core, measures give us information about how well we’re doing in meeting our goals. “What gets measured gets managed,” as the saying goes. With metrics, you can use data to run your business in a way that meets or beats goals and delivers the most value. They help us make choices based on facts and, in the end, lead to improvements in the business. A lot of the time, they are practical and are used to help optimize operations.
What measures for project management are good for
Metrics for project management should be used to keep an eye on quality or find ways to make the process better. Metrics for project management must always focus on “what” you give (e.g., volume, complexity, level of effort) and how well it meets goals to show effectiveness:
- Quality: Correctness and happiness.
- Speed: cycle time and arrival on time.
- Cost: Not too expensive and in line with other prices.
Don’t stop there. Use metrics and data from project management to get more effective insights. You can use them to help you decide who should be on your team, what skills they should have, and how to organize your staff. This useful, though maybe not as often used, lens for project management measures helps you decide “who” to hire to do the “what.”
You should always think about how to get the most out of your info. One clear way is to use it to specifically tailor the people you hire. Use it to make sure your staff is working at its best to do the “what” most efficiently. It will help you inform and guide the “who” to make sure talent is aligned with job and show:
- Quality: Capabilities.
- Speed: Capacity.
- Cost: Staff type.
Use data to make sure you hire the right people.
Start with the project data you keep track of about outputs, like how many, how complicated, and how much work they require. That will help you figure out if you have enough people with the right skills to keep your service-level agreements (SLAs). Are you able to bend up and down when the level changes? If so, does your building save money?
Review the jobs that have been given to you and the skills that you will need to do the work. Think about how you drive quality to make clients happy. Think about the skills that generalists and experts can offer. Adding specialized skills can improve quality by giving you more knowledge to surprise and delight your clients in new or surprising ways. When you mix generalists and specialists, you get a mix of people who are good at different things.
Once metrics for project management are set, SLAs for turnaround times should be in line with what the business wants. Capacity and demand number must match up. Niche skills are another thing that helps you deliver quickly.
If you have highly skilled and experienced professionals on your team, the cycle time may be faster, which could help you stick to your schedules or even deliver early, which could improve the quality of the client experience.
If your demand stays the same (lucky you!), you might want to look into a flexible staffing plan. Having a mix of full-time, part-time, and freelance employees on your team is a great way to handle changing needs while still meeting your goal utilizations and making sure your team can bill and stay financially healthy.
Think about how you can use this approach as the leader of your marketing team or creative marketing agency. As an example, your company or team is growing and taking on a wider range of projects, from easy, low-cost ones to hard, high-cost ones. Of course, you can’t please everyone all the time. You need to give some thought to how you want to grow your business effectively.
Will it be creative marketing efforts, which are hard to do but make a lot of money? Or are you ready to take on creative marketing production, which means low complexity, low profit margins, and a lot of work? As you “choose your lane,” if you will, that information will help you with your general hiring plan.
Hiring tactics are always being adjusted and matched.
You should expect business shifts and get ready for them. These changes mean that your hiring plan needs to change too. The skills of your team will probably need to change too. Because it takes time and work to hire and train staff, creating a mindset that values skill development is helpful. Giving employees chances to improve their skills could help you keep good employees, give them steadiness when it’s needed, and motivate them by showing that you value their work.
There is a simple four-step process for calibrating all the time. (It doesn’t need to be hard to be good!) Keep in mind that this is not a straight line and that it’s an ongoing cycle:
- Set success measures and keep track of data that shows how well you’re doing against your goals.
- Set up a team with the right number of people and the right mix of skills.
- Set up a system of growth that helps people learn new skills as the business needs them.
- Look over your project management measures and rate how well you’re meeting your KPIs.
As part of your best practices, make this step to look at what your internal data is telling you. By setting up a growth culture and thinking carefully about data and team needs, you intentionally set the company up for more success.
Putting everything together
People have a lot of value. Organizations can hire the right people by taking a fresh, critical look at their project management data. Sticking to a tuning cycle can help you hire experts in a way that fits your business as it changes.
The end result is improvement for short-term success, which can be seen in project management data. As your business grows, you can build an operational plan that can keep up with it. This approach is a good way to make sure that your company is ready for the future, and it will help the business, the team, and the individual.