Definitions for Project Health Check Dashboards
PROGRESS
CHANGE
STAFF
RISK
QUALITY
PROGRESS:
1. The EARNED VALUE, or Budgeted Cost of Work Performed (BCWP), gauge shows the
cumulative-earned value delivered to date. The cumulative earned value indicator shows the
amount of work completed on the project. This metric is based on the notion that, at the
beginning of a project, every task is allocated a budget which then becomes its planned
value. As work is completed on a task, its budget (or planned value) is "earned"
as a quantitative measure of progress. The maximum value on the gauge, known as Budget at
Completion (BAC), represents the total original budget for the project. Note that BAC is
constant for the life of the project, and represents the total value of work to be
performed. The triangle indicator shows the cumulative planned value or Budgeted Cost of
Work Scheduled (BCWS), which is the total value of work originally scheduled for
completion by the end of this reporting period.
A comparison of the BCWP, BCWS, and BAC indicators will help in making critical
observations about a project's progress. Comparing the BCWP and BCWS indicators will
reveal whether the project is ahead of or behind schedule. This is a good measure of
schedule deviation because it takes into account the amount of work originally planned for
completion.
To use the earned value metric successfully, and measure progress, it is critical to
establish a planned value and completion criterion for each task before work begins..
Cumulative earned value is the sum of the planned values for all completed tasks. The best
completion criteria for a software task requires that no planned value credit will be
taken until all work is completed and tested. These completion criteria are known as
quality gates.
2. The ACTUAL COST or Actual Cost of Work Performed (ACWP) gauge shows the cumulative
actual cost incurred on the project to date. The maximum value on this gauge, Estimate at
Completion (EAC), represents the current best estimate for the total project cost. . Note
that EAC might have a different value from BAC in the above-earned value gauge because
better total-cost estimates are possible as projects progress. Therefore, EAC may change
for different reporting periods.
A comparison of the cumulative actual cost (ACWP)and the cumulative earned value (BCWP)
in the above-earned value gauge will help you estimate how projects are performing against
their budgets. This comparison shows how well projects are turning actual costs (ACWP)
into progress (BCWP). Although the scales for this gauge and the earned value gauge are
the same, cumulative actual cost can be compared with BAC to determine project status
toward overrunning the original budget, and with EAC to determine project status toward
overrunning the current estimated total cost.
3. The ELAPSED TIME gauge shows the end date for the current reporting period in
months. The SAC (Schedule at Completion) mark shows the original scheduled completion date
for this project.
Current time can be compared with SAC to determine the time remaining in the original
schedule.
4. The COST PERFORMANCE INDEX (CPI) gauge shows, to date, how efficiently the project
team has turned costs into progress and measures the average productivity over the life of
the project. . It is calculated by dividing the cumulative earned value by the cumulative
actual cost (BCWP/ ACWP).
CPI represents the amount of work performed for each dollar spent. When (CPI) has a value
of 1.0, the project team is delivering a dollar of planned work for each dollar of cost.
When CPI is less than 1.0, there is the potential for a productivity problem. For example,
a CPI of .80 means you received 80 cents' worth of planned work for each dollar you
paid in cost. A CPI of less than 1.0 may indicate that the project team did not perform as
well as expected, or that the original budget was too aggressive for the amount of work
required.
5. The To-Complete Performance Index (TCPI) gauge shows the projection of the average
productivity needed to complete the project within an estimated budget. It is calculated
by dividing the work remaining by the current estimate of remaining cost ((BAC -
BCWP)/(EAC - ACWP)).
The TCPI gauge must be used in conjunction with the CPI gauge. To determine how
realistic the most recent estimated total cost (EAC) is for the project, compare TCPI with
CPI. Note that CPI measures the average productivity to date. If TCPI is greater than
CPI, then the project team is anticipating an efficiency improvement.. To calibrate, the
estimated total cost of the project (EAC), compare TCPI with CPI. Always question claims
of future productivity improvement that result in a 20 per cent or greater increase
in TCPI over CPI to ensure that they are based on sound reasoning. This is especially true
of "silver bullets, like new tools, languages, or methodologies that may actually
decrease productivity due to training and start-up costs. The red line on this gauge
should be about 20 per cent above the current value of the CPI gauge to show the
relationship and warning level between the two gauges.
6. The ABBA1 CHART, or TOTAL PROGRAM PERFORMANCE EFFICIENCY chart, contains
the following four different performance indicators showing trends in historic and
projected efficiency to date:
1. TCPI (Gauge 5)
2. Completion Efficiency (CE), a ratio calculated by dividing BAC by EAC to estimate
the productivity required to complete the project within a projected total cost (EAC)
3. CPI (Gauge 4)
4. Monthly CPI, a ratio calculated by dividing the monthly earned value by the monthly
actual cost (as opposed to cumulative values for the CPI calculation).
A more detailed description of this chart is found in Appendix C.
7. Quality Gate Task Status This Month shows the completion status of tasks during the
current reporting period. A quality gate is a predefined completion criterion for a task.
The criterion must be an objective yes/no indicator that shows a task has been completed
(see discussion on Gauge 1 above). The indicators are as follows:
· Total Tasks Due is the total number of tasks scheduled for completion during this
reporting period plus any overdue tasks from previous periods. This indicates the total
quantity of work required for the project to keep pace with the schedule.
· Completed on Time is the number of tasks originally scheduled for completion during
this reporting period that were completed by their original scheduled due date. This
number indicates how well the project is keeping up with scheduled work.
· Completed Late is the number of tasks completed late during this reporting period.
This number includes those tasks scheduled for this period that were completed late, and
any previously overdue tasks completed in this period. The Completed Late number indicates
how well the project is completing work, even if it is late according to the original
schedule.
· Total Overdue is the total number of tasks for all previous reporting periods that
are overdue by the end of the current reporting period. This is an indicator of the
quantity of work needed to get the project back on schedule.
The total number of tasks completed in this reporting period is the sum of Completed on
Time and Completed Late, so Total Overdue is equal to Total Due minus Completed on Time
and Completed Late.
8. The QUALITY GATE TASKS COMPLETED graph shows the cumulative number of tasks
completed by the end of each reporting period to date plotted with the cumulative number
of tasks scheduled for completion.
When the number of tasks completed is less than the number planned, then the horizontal
difference on the time axis is an indicator of the current schedule slip to date.
CHANGE:
9. CM (Configuration Management) Churn Per Month is calculated by dividing the number
of baselined configuration items (CIs) that have been modified and rechecked into the
configuration management system over the last reporting period by the total number of
baselined CIs in the system at the end of the period. It is expressed as a percentage. A
modified CI is one that was previously in the system, but was reviewed sometime later,
then modified or replaced.
This gauge serves as an indicator of the architectural soundness of the system. If the
rate of "churn" begins to approach the 2 per cent per month level,
this shows that a lot of rework is going on, which could point to deeper problems in the
project. A high churn rate may mean that the original design was not robust enough. It
could also be a symptom of changing requirements (see Gauge 10), which could indicate the
project is drifting towards disaster.
10. Requirements Change Per Month is a percentage calculated by dividing the number of
new, changed, or deleted requirements specified in this reporting period by the total
number of requirements at the end of this period. Typical projects experience a
requirements change of 1 per cent per month.
Some growth is to be expected in requirements , particularly on large projects.
However, a high rate of requirements change may indicate that the customer is not sure of
what is wanted, or that the original definition of requirements was poor. A high rate
often predicts disaster for software-intensive projects.
STAFF:
11. Voluntary Turnover this Period is a percentage calculated by dividing the number of
staff leaving during this reporting period by the number of staff working at the beginning
of this period. The target range is less than 2 per cent per month.
Employees may leave projects in a number of ways, such as quitting the organization or
requesting reassignment to another project.
Turnover is an important measure for risk assessment, and every project lasting six
months or longer should expect and prepare for some staff turnover. Each project member
who leaves the team causes a productivity drop and schedule disruption. Bringing on new
team members, regardless of their skills and experience, does not necessarily solve the
problem; they require time to become familiar with the project and processes. In addition,
a productive team member will usually have to devote time to orient the new hire, thus
taking away additional resources from the project. Appropriate allowances should be
included in the productivity resource estimates to allow for staff turnover.
12. Overtime this Period is a percentage calculated by dividing the overtime hours by
the base working hours for all project staff in this reporting period. The target range is
less than 10 per cent. When the overtime rate approaches 20 per cent, the
ability of the staff to respond effectively to crises suffers significantly.
RISK:
13. The RISK EXPOSURE chart shows each risk plotted by its cost consequence and
probability. The probability is expressed in terms of occurrences over the life of the
project. The regions on the graph show where risks fall into areas of low, moderate, or
high-risk exposure.
14. RISK RESERVE shows the total risk exposure for cost and schedule compared with the
current cost and time risk reserves for the project. Risk exposure for a risk is
calculated by multiplying the probability by the consequence of that risk. Although the
consequences (and therefore the risk exposure) for all risks are not necessarily
independent, summing the individual cost risk exposures for all risks will provide a first
approximation of the total cost risk exposure to the project.. This same rule holds true
for consequences resulting in a delayed schedule.
Establish a cost and risk reserve at the beginning of the project to deal with
unforeseen problems. The cost and time risk reserve for a project will change over time,
as some of these reserves will mitigate the effects of risks that actually occur and
affect the project.
QUALITY:
15. DEFECTS BY ACTIVITY displays the number of detected defects open (i.e. yet to be
fixed) and the number of defects closed in each phase of the project. Defects are problems
that, if not removed, could cause a program failure or produce incorrect results. Defects
are generally prioritized by severity level, with those labelled as numeral 1 being the
most serious.
The quality indicators on this chart help you answer the question, "What is the
quality of the product right now?"
16. Current Health of Overall Portfolio by Project indicates performance against the
targets for the reporting period.
Potential Emerging Issue(s) indicates performance against targets for successful
completion of the project.
Continued Business Fit indicates whether the project continues to be an integral part
of the portfolio, if there is question of its relevancy or if there are decisions required
to abort the project.
Inter-dependent Project Numbers indicates the projects by numbers that are dependent on
other projects in the portfolio eg. Project 3 is dependent on Project 2 and 4.
17. Blue Ahead of Plan indicates performance exceeds targets
Green OK indicates performance is on target
Yellow Caution indicates performance monitoring required
Alert indicates action/decision required
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