Project Metrics, KPIs and Dashboards

Project reporting often grows by accumulation. Each stakeholder asks for another measure, teams report what is easy to count rather than what matters, and dashboards show dozens of indicators coloured green until the project suddenly turns red. Percent complete is estimated by feel, definitions differ between projects, data arrives late and is entered by hand, and nobody is sure which thresholds should trigger action. The result is reporting that consumes effort but rarely changes a decision.

This programme treats project measurement as a system. It moves through five stages: deciding what needs to be measured and why, defining metrics and KPIs with formulas, sources and thresholds, measuring schedule, cost and earned value performance, extending measurement to quality, risk, benefits and portfolio health, and designing dashboards and reporting routines that lead to action.

Built on recognised practice. The programme references earned value management guidance in ISO 21508 and the ANSI/EIA-748 guidelines, the project governance and control guidance in ISO 21502, the performance domains of the PMI PMBOK Guide, benefits management practice, the balanced scorecard concept and established principles of data visualisation. They are used to build consistent, comparable measures rather than new layers of reporting.

Decisions this programme improves. Which indicators belong on a sponsor dashboard and which stay with the team; how to set thresholds and tolerances; when a trend justifies intervention or re-baselining; how to compare projects of different sizes fairly in a portfolio; and whether a project is still likely to deliver its expected benefits.

How it is delivered. Twenty hours across five sessions, built around one running case: a PMO asked to create a common set of KPIs and a monthly dashboard for a portfolio of projects. Participants write KPI definition sheets, calculate earned value indicators from sample data, and design a sponsor dashboard and a portfolio view in a spreadsheet or common business intelligence tool.

In-house option. For organisations, the programme can be tailored to your own project data, reporting templates, governance meetings and tools, and can end with a draft KPI framework and dashboard for your PMO.

Who Should Attend

Project and programme managers responsible for reporting project performance

PMO staff: PMO managers, project controls analysts and reporting officers

Project controls professionals: planners, schedulers and cost controllers

Performance and strategy staff who consolidate project data for senior management

Sponsors and heads of function who want to set clear reporting expectations for their projects

Objectives

Distinguish metrics, KPIs, key risk indicators and targets, and explain the purpose of each

Derive project KPIs from objectives, success criteria and stakeholder information needs

Write KPI definition sheets with formula, data source, owner, frequency and thresholds

Choose objective progress measurement rules for different types of work

Calculate and interpret earned value indicators, including CPI, SPI, EAC and TCPI

Define indicators for quality, risk, resources, stakeholders and benefits realisation

Use leading and lagging indicators to forecast problems before they occur

Design a dashboard that presents status, trends and exceptions clearly to sponsors

Build a portfolio view that compares project health consistently

Establish data quality checks and a reporting routine that leads to decisions and actions

Course Outline

What Should We Measure: From Objectives to Indicators

Why project reporting fails: too many measures, unclear definitions and late data
Metrics, KPIs, key risk indicators and targets: differences and uses
Deriving indicators from objectives, success criteria and the business case
Leading versus lagging indicators
Stakeholder information needs: team, project manager, sponsor and board
Avoiding perverse incentives and gaming of measures

Defining KPIs That Hold Up: Formulas, Data and Thresholds

The KPI definition sheet: purpose, formula, unit, source, owner and frequency
Baselines, targets, tolerances and RAG thresholds
Data sources: schedules, cost systems, timesheets, registers and surveys
Data quality: completeness, timeliness and consistency across projects
Normalising indicators to compare projects of different sizes
Governance of the KPI set: review, change and retirement of indicators

Measuring Schedule and Cost Performance

Objective progress measurement: milestones, weighted steps, units complete
Earned value management: PV, EV, AC, CV, SV, CPI and SPI
Forecasting: EAC, ETC, VAC and TCPI, and when each method is appropriate
Schedule indicators: float erosion, critical path stability and milestone trends
Earned schedule as a complement to SPI late in the project
Trend analysis and S-curves

Beyond Time and Cost: Quality, Risk, People and Benefits

Quality indicators: defects, rework, acceptance rates and audit findings
Risk and issue indicators: exposure trends and overdue actions
Resource and team indicators: utilisation, turnover and engagement
Stakeholder and change indicators
Benefits realisation measures and ownership after handover
Agile metrics: velocity, burn-up charts, cycle time and their limits
Sustainability and ESG indicators where they are part of project objectives

Dashboards and Reporting That Lead to Decisions

Dashboard design principles: hierarchy, exceptions and trends over snapshots
Choosing the right chart for each indicator and avoiding misleading visuals
Project, programme and portfolio dashboards
Automating data flows with business intelligence tools; realistic uses of AI in reporting
Health checks and project audits using metrics
Reporting routines: from dashboard review to agreed actions
Action plan: improving the KPI framework in your organisation

Competencies

Project KPI selection and definition

Leading and lagging indicator design

Thresholds, tolerances and exception reporting

Earned value analysis and forecasting

Schedule health and progress measurement

Quality, risk and benefits realisation indicators

Project and portfolio dashboard design

Reporting data quality and governance

Metrics-based project health checks

Amsterdam

Explore professional training in Amsterdam across Elite Academy’s full range of disciplines. The city’s position as an international business hub known for openness, efficient working practices and a strong multinational outlook makes it an attractive international setting for scheduled courses and programs arranged to your preferred topic and dates. Elite Academy can deliver its full range of professional training programs in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Because the city is an international business hub known for openness, efficient working practices and a strong multinational outlook, it provides a strong international environment for participants from organizations as well as individual professionals. The courses shown on this page represent the programs currently scheduled in Amsterdam; they do not limit what can be delivered there. If your preferred course or date is not listed, you can request any program from our portfolio to be arranged in Amsterdam, subject to scheduling and delivery requirements.