Progress Metrics
Walking The Line
Attempting to walk in a straight line is a quick test for a drunk driver whose lack of coordination soon betrays them.
I'm a fan of burn-down charts. Every day on my current project we "walk the line" charting our progress and knowing whether we are on track, ahead or behind.
Having the line permanently on display is a great reminder to stay on track and is part of the transparency mature project teams exhibit.
A Compass On The Open Sea
Out on the open sea the horizon looks the same in every direction. On a cloudy day you may not even have the sun or stars as a point of reference.
It would be foolish to set off without any means of knowing which direction you are heading and whether or not you are making the progress you expect. You might soon end up all adrift and lost at sea.
Having tools that allow you to quickly find out whether or not you are on track or off course is a great benefit. Such tools are highly valued by mature project teams who gladly invest the effort in creating the necessary data to support the tools in their revelation of truth so that they can course correct as necessary and keep the customer informed.
Sooner Rather Than Later
Tracking progress is an on-going activity. It isn't something to be left as an occasional thing in case you find out you are significantly off course far too late in a project to correct it. Frequent checking with occasional correction is usually the order of the day.
Teams that check their progress late in the day often find out they are behind schedule at a time went they least want to hear it!
Not Rocket Science
Progress calculations often don't look like rocket science, they are often easy to compute.
For example, if you have approximately 100 items to migrate over a 5 month period then you might expect to see 20 items migrated a month which is approximately 5 items a week. Simple math and simple progress milestones.
Learning Projects
Learning needs to be treated as a project in itself but often isn't.
Just as we need to plan and track our progress on IT projects to make sure we are delivering value and staying on schedule and budget to keep both the customer and our organisation happy, so we should plan and track our learning projects to make sure we are achieving our desired learning outcomes.
We set revenue and profit targets, so we should set learning targets too.
Good Intentions
It is not enough to say something like "we need to embrace cloud technologies" if we are to compete in future markets. There has to be a project behind the intention if the outcome is to be achieved. Otherwise, it's another example of where "failing to plan is planning to fail".
Learning Projects
Learning projects based on a strategic intention take into account the different needs and roles of people in an organisation.
Some people will need hands-on skills backed by support from SMEs. Others will need a thorough high level understanding whilst some will need just a basic understanding.
Learning needs to be geared so that all of the right people achieve their learning to the appropriate level at the right time. This can feel counter-intuitive as SMEs take time to grow and training courses are usually not enough to equip hands-on practitioners. Sales personnel and architects are often closer and earlier to emerging customer expectations.
Learning Metrics
How exactly do you identify and measure progress metrics for learning? This is part of the corporate learning dilemma and something to be taken seriously if strategic objectives are to be achieved rather than relegated to good intentions at best.
Some of the metrics you might consider as part of your learning project could include statistics related to:
- Training courses
- Conferences
- Certifications
- On-line training
- Technical briefings
- Personal development objectives
- Projects
- Bids
The good news is that there are tools to help with this problem such as Pluralsight for example.
Perhaps the most serious metric you can consider is how many learning projects you are running. 😊
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Tim Simpson
8th November, 2019
#LifeAtCapgemini