Performance Measurements Essay

Performance measurements are used to characterize and define performance in a project. They are used to track and manage progress toward achieving specific project goals. Performance measurements help determine how decision-making processes of a project led to its success or failure, understanding these can help organizations make future improvements. It is a project manager’s responsibility to measure performance based on the triple constraints of time, budget, and quality of a project. There are many performance measurements a project manager can use based on the type of project at hand, this paper compares and contrasts the following measurements – * Earned Value * Customer Satisfaction * Requirements Performance Earned Value Earned Value measures work performed in terms of schedule and budget of a project. It helps identify schedule and budget mishaps in all areas of a project. â€Å"Earned Value is an approach where you monitor the project plan, actual work, and work-completed value to see if a project is on track. Earned Value shows how much of the budget and time should have been spent, with regard to the amount of work done so far† (Haughey, 2013). It measures current performance in a project, which helps project managers determine what the future performance will be. Using earned value, project managers can determine how much work is completed vs. , how much was expected to be completed at a certain point in a project. Based on the earned value, project managers can make changes to the way the project is progressing in terms of specific tasks, schedule, and budget to bring it back on track for successful completion. Earned Value provides the project manager with an objective way of measuring performance and predicting future outcomes. This can enable him or her to report progress with greater confidence and highlight any overrun earlier. This in turn, enables the management team to make cost and time allocation decisions earlier than would otherwise be the case†Ã¢â‚¬  (Haughey, 2013). Customer Satisfaction Customer satisfaction is a performance measure that determines if customer expectations are being met. At the end of a project, customer satisfaction is what determines if a project was a success or a failure. Project-driven organizations must consider customer satisfaction as a critical success factor. Organizations that deliver projects that disregard customer needs create negative experiences and ultimately cause huge problems for the organization† (Karim, 2012). Project managers must make sure customer expectations and requirements are in line with the project continually during the life of a project. Following are some of the steps he or she can take to ensure customer satisfaction – * Balance customer needs with company’s customer service needs. Make sure customer requirements are deliverable and clearly communicate those that aren’t. * Gather continual feedback from customers to measure their satisfaction and improve current processes. * Customer satisfaction should be given as much importance as time, budget, and quality in project. * Include and inform customers when any changes are made in a project. * Effective communication between the customer and Project manager, and between the project manager and project team is very important. Requirements performance Meeting requirements is a key factor in measuring project performance. It is important to make sure that the right requirements have been gathered, and they are detailed as clearly as possible. Requirements in a project can be both functional and non-functional. If a project is meeting all of its requirements, it can be a key factor that indicates if it will be a successful one. â€Å"To measure this factor you need to develop measures of fit, which means the solution completely satisfies the requirement. A requirements performance index can measure the degree to which project results meet requirements†¦ Fit criteria are usually derived some time after the requirement description is first written† (Pennypacker, n. d. ). In conclusion, there are many ways to measure project performance and each project has its unique set of performance measurements. Performance measurements are important to track the progress of a project and to make sure the project is on target. Performance measurements are used to monitor and control a project to ensure its successful completion.