Project Management Metrics: Tracking Project Progress

How do you know whether a project is successful and on track? Project management metrics answer this question accurately based on pure data.

Playing the guessing game with stakeholders, their budget, and your teams’ time is not an option nowadays. With a vast choice of software, recording and analyzing numbers today is easier than ever.

So why would you miss out on the opportunity to present your project’s progress with confidence?

Read on to discover what project management metrics are, what types of metrics exist, how they can benefit your team, and how to measure them.

• Project management metrics measure the project’s performance and progress.
• By regularly tracking metrics, project managers can take corrective action on time to prevent project failure.
• The best way to keep track of your projects is with project management tools.
• Every industry has specific metrics that don’t necessarily apply to every team and project.

What are project metrics?

Project metrics are measurable indicators that show the project’s performance, progress, and overall success. 

By tracking the right metrics, project managers can identify potential risks, improve decision-making, and keep projects aligned with business goals.

Common project metrics include:

• Schedule performance
• Budget utilization
• Task completion rates
• Resource allocation
• Team productivity

These and other metrics provide valuable insights into how efficiently a project is running and whether it is on track to meet its objectives.

Rather than relying on assumptions, teams can use data-driven information to spot issues early, optimize workflows, and continuously improve project outcomes.

Why are project metrics important?

Project management metrics help you:

• Keep current projects on track.
• Learn from your past mistakes.
• Set expectations for upcoming projects.

Data collected in real time gives an insight into the project’s performance. This is vital for risk management — if the numbers are available on time, you can spot early signs of project failure and take corrective action.

Then, once you complete a project, the collected metrics help you analyze what to improve.

This data should show you where and why your estimates were wrong, which resources you failed to use properly, and which costs blew out of proportion. As a result, you will be able to make better plans for the future and showcase your success in the form of data too.

How to implement and track project management metrics

Tracking project management metrics effectively requires consistency and visibility.

Teams should begin by selecting a small number of key metrics relevant to their work, since tracking too many metrics can make reporting complicated and dilute focus.

Once metrics are selected, they should be monitored through centralized dashboards that provide real-time insights into project progress. The easiest way to track project progress is with project management tools such as Plaky.

In Plaky, you can create your own dashboards and easily evaluate project progress with custom fields that track the necessary project metrics. Or, you can choose from an array of ready-made Plaky templates to speed things up.

Track your projects in Plaky

With the information you collect from your project management tool, you should be able to spot lags or bottlenecks and review your progress easily. Most importantly, you’ll be able to spot these issues before they impact your project on a bigger scale.

Finally, project metrics should drive action. When these indicators reveal recurring issues, teams should investigate the root cause and adjust workflows accordingly to improve future performance.

How a marketing agency uses project management metrics

Let’s set an example.

Imagine a marketing agency notices that client projects frequently miss deadlines. To solve the issue, the team decides to track several project metrics, including:

• Average task completion rate
• Workload distribution
• Campaign delivery time
• Number of revision requests
• Approval turnaround times

Using a project management platform such as Plaky, the agency collects data automatically and reviews the results periodically.

After several reporting cycles, managers discover that most delays occur during the client feedback stage. They respond by introducing approval deadlines, standardized feedback templates, and automated reminders.

This leads to faster turnaround times and more efficient workflows. The agency works smarter and the clients get better and faster results.

Types of project metrics

There are dozens of project metrics you can use to measure your project’s performance. The data and the metrics managers rely on will depend on the industry they’re in and the results their stakeholders find important.

But, these are the 4 vital groups of project performance metrics every manager should monitor:

• Scope metrics
• Cost metrics
• Schedule metrics
• Quality metrics

Scope metrics

Scope metrics are indicators that track, define, and control the size and boundaries of a project.

In project management, scope is one of the most important metrics to track since it defines the project goal, deadlines, and deliverables. 

The longer and more complex the project is, the more likely it is that its scope will change, leading to scope creep.

The best way to avoid scope creep is to define the project scope as precisely as possible before the project starts. So, together with the project stakeholders and your team, you should come up with a clear outline of the project’s:

• Milestones
• Deadlines
• Deliverables
• Resource allocation

Track project scope metrics in Plaky

Cost metrics

Costs are directly related to a project’s budget, so project managers must control them at all times.

The importance of cost control is also reflected in the number of indicators that help track planned and actual costs.

The main cost metrics are:

• Earned value
• Cost variance
• Cost performance index

Earned value (EV)

Earned value is the value of the work performed up until a certain point in the project. The formula to calculate earned value is:

EV = % of work completed x total project budget

This indicator shows whether the achieved value matches the planned value or not. The formula can be used at any point during project development to assess if it’s going according to plan.

Let’s see an example.

Suppose a family hired contractors to redo the floors of 2 rooms. The budget is $1,000, and the estimated time to complete the project is 3 days. 

At the end of day 2, the floors have been stripped and varnished twice, meaning that 1 more coat is left to apply. Applying each coat of varnish makes up 20% of the entire project, so in total, 80% of the work has been completed.

We can now apply the formula to check the project’s current earned value.

EV = 80% x $1,000 = $800

Cost variance (CV)

Cost variance is a parameter that shows the difference between the planned and the actual cost (AC) at any point in the project.

To calculate it, you’ll first need to calculate the earned value.

CV = EV – AC

CV = % of work completed x total project budget – AC

If the result is over zero, there’s a positive cost variance, meaning your costs are under the planned budget. 

On the other hand, a negative cost variance shows you’re overspending and should bring your expenses under control.

In our flooring example, the project is going according to plan. Here’s how we can calculate the cost variance:

CV = $800 – $600 = $200

The positive value shows us the project is under budget by $200.

Cost Performance Index (CPI)

The cost performance index shows how cost-efficient the project is. It requires the same values as cost variance, but it’s calculated slightly differently:

CPI = EV / AC

CPI = % of work completed x total project budget / AC

If the result is:

• Over 1 — the project is under budget.
• Equal to 1 — everything is going according to plan.

Project managers should be concerned and react if CPI is under 1. This result indicates the project is over budget.

Though we’ve already established in our example that the project is under budget, we can still apply the formula:

CPI = $800 / $600 = 1.33

As you can see, CPI is above 1, confirming our conclusion that the project is under budget.

Keep an eye on project costs in Plaky

Schedule metrics

Finishing a project on time is one of the main requirements in project management.

Projects are usually split into phases, and each phase has one or more milestones, all with their own deadlines.

Tackling the project phases one milestone at a time makes it easier to track the project schedule continually. Some of the most used schedule metrics to keep a project in check are:

• Schedule variance and
• Schedule performance index

Schedule variance (SV)

Schedule variance measures the actual amount of performed work against planned work. It lets project managers check whether the team is completing the scheduled tasks on time at any given moment.

To calculate the schedule variance (SV), you’ll need to calculate the earned value and the planned value (PV):

SV = EV – PV

PV = % of expected completed work x total project budget

SV = (% of work completed – % of expected completed work) x total project budget

If the result is 0, it means all tasks have been completed on time, and there’s no need to worry. However, if it’s below zero, your team is behind schedule.

Let’s look at our example again. The plan was to finish one coat of varnish on day 2, which would have amounted to 50% of the work. Instead, 80% of the project was completed:

SV = (80% – 50%) x $1,000 = $300

The positive result shows us the project is well ahead of schedule.

Schedule Performance Index (SPI)

The schedule performance index measures the project’s compliance with the planned work.

The SPI is similar to schedule variance as it serves the same purpose and uses the same values, but it’s calculated slightly differently:

SPI = EV / PV

SPI = % of work completed / % of expected completed work

If the value of SPI is equal to 1, the project is right on schedule. Conversely, if the result is greater than 1, the tasks have been finished ahead of schedule, and vice versa.

In our example, the schedule variance showed that the project was ahead of schedule. Let’s see what the index says:

SPI = 80% / 50% = 1.6

The SPI is above 1, confirming that the work is ahead of schedule.

Improve project scheduling with Plaky

Quality metrics

Quality metrics measure the product or process compliance with standard qualitative attributes. After all, cost efficiency and staying ahead of schedule don’t matter if the final result is below average.

Each industry has at least a dozen specific metrics they use to measure their performance, and every company within those industries has even more parameters to track.

For example, in the e-commerce industry, sales teams will track the inventory and advertising costs of sales. These metrics mean nothing to software development teams that keep an eye on burn-up charts and task estimates vs. actual task completion time.

Restaurants are another example that uses completely different metrics, such as sanitary standards and customer satisfaction. Finally, every marketing team will regularly measure customer loyalty with the net promoter score (NPS).

Either way, companies have to keep up with the industry trends and adjust their metrics to the current standards. Moreover, managers must track quality metrics regularly and intervene if the results are not satisfying.

Software gratuito de gerenciamento de projetos

Assuma o controle da carga de trabalho da sua equipe e alcance melhores resultados em seus projetos com o Plaky.

Inscreva-se Saiba mais

Metrics vs. KPIs

Metrics are calculated indicators that show if the project is meeting the planned values throughout its duration.

Key performance indicators (KPIs) are high-level business goals that teams try to achieve over a certain period of time.

Here’s a breakdown of the main differences between metrics and KPIs:

To illustrate, if the marketing team of a software development company makes social media posts to boost product subscriptions, they’ll use the following metrics:

• Number of posts
• Number of likes
• Reach
• Click-through rate
• Advertising costs
• Number of new subscribers resulting from the campaign

However, the KPIs they’d use to measure the success of their marketing campaign could look something like this:

• 400 new product subscribers by the end of the year
• Increase brand awareness by reaching 10,000 page visitors
• Increase subscription revenue by 20% within 12 months

As you can see, metrics measure results at a certain point and are compared to what was planned. 

Track your project’s KPIs with Plaky

Not sure how to track project metrics? Try Plaky

You can organize entire projects and regularly keep an eye on their metrics with a project management tool like Plaky. Here’s how:

• Create a project Board.
• Add custom Fields.
• Invite your team and clients.
• Create Items and attach the necessary files.
• Group Items.
• Aggregate data with summary rows.

Whether you go for a pre-made project management template or build it from scratch, you can customize your project board to include all the metrics you need to monitor.

Plaky’s intuitive design makes it easy to use and adapt to your needs, from organizing your work to communicating with your team.

Also, the available functions eliminate even the need for a calculator as the values of each column can be automatically calculated in the summary row. 

This way, you’ll save time by tracking metrics at a glance while managing all other aspects of your project in just one tool.

Interested in managing your projects and tracking metrics daily with ease? Create a free Plaky account now!

Get started with Plaky