The Distributive ENote
A monthly e-newsletter from Distributive Management 
September 2009 Issue 117
 
"It is more important to know the right questions
than the right answers."  
~ James Thurber
In This Issue
enote0Start Measuring Your Project's Health.  We'll Show You How.
Launch an Uncomplicated Metrics Dashboard System and Get Answers

An hour spent sifting through data to determine your project's well-being is 59.9 minutes of wasted time if a measurement-based traffic light can provide the answer in seconds.

Does getting started down that path seem daunting?  Join us this month for our free, 1-hour lunch-time webinar and follow along as we use DataDrill metrics software to build a useful set of automated dashboards and key performance indicators from scratch.  DataDrill is a complete measurement and analysis system packaged in user-friendly dashboard software.

Distributive Management's measurement expert and lead product developer, Peter Baxter, presents this webinar on on how to move from chaos to organized metrics for a clear-cut understanding of project health.

During the webinar you'll see how to:

  • Create a reusable template of project indicators, choosing pre-built best practices from our library
  • Automatically generate Excel data-entry worksheets from your indicators, so managers provide the right data
  • Quickly set up and perform automated data collection from Excel files
  • Skim status results in a glance, identify problem areas and manage by exception
  • Efficiently navigate project summaries, dashboards and project notes/analysis, as well as generate PowerPoint reports

See it in Action! Join our live, complimentary webinar and demo session. Register Now

When: Wednesday, October 14, 2009 @ 1pm ET (GMT-5)
Cost: Free
Where: Online with Distributive Management
Register: http://www.distributive.com/prodres_webinars.htm

enote1Are Decision Rules Helping You Interpret Measurement Results?

Last month we asked our readers to weigh in on the importance of decision criteria in their metrics.

We asked: How many decision rules do you use when evaluating performance?

Turns out that most of our readers use 1-10 decision rules - enough to gauge performance without inundating managers with information.  Ideally, these decision rules are mapped directly to specific and high-priority goals and objectives. Are yours?

We asked: What sort of decision rule(s) do you find to be the most effective?

The overwhelming majority of respondents said "comparison of plans to actual results".  Hopefully, it's easy to spot when there's a significant variance of actual results from plan so that corrective action can be taken in time to make a difference.  Can you tell at-a-glance which of your metrics are off-track?

If you have a disconnect between your performance data and your decision-making, you might want to check out our on-demand webinar:

Start a World-Class Metrics Program for Your Project in Less than 30 Minutes

We'll take you from project goals to actionable KPIs in less time than it takes most companies to produce an accurate status report.
enote2Fall Pruning: How to Tidy Up Your Metrics

Think of your metrics program as the garden where you grow things like process improvement, cost savings, increased efficiency and better planning.  Like a real garden, it must be tended to.

Metrics-based decisions bear the fruit that you want to harvest.  Over time you will notice that some metrics are cash crops and some are more like dead branches on your favorite shrub.  It's important to prune away the non-productive metrics to make way for more fruitful ones.

OK, enough with the metaphors - here are some tips for metrics that may need pruning or revising:

  • metrics that can't clearly be interpreted
  • metrics that cannot be mapped to a goal or objective
  • metrics that focus too much on people performance instead of process performance 
  • metrics whose results cannot be influenced 
  • metrics that are too expensive to collect
  • metrics that cannot be measured accurately or consistently

When your metrics are healthy and relevant, you'll start asking better questions and hopefully will improve your decision making.  Maybe it will be as simple as noticing that 20% of the staff disappears at Halloween and accounting for it in the next planning phase.

Also, you might want to have a look at our presentation on Calculating Measurement Effectiveness.  It tells you how to know if your performance measurement process is effective and explains why you should care.
 
enote4Revving Up the Traditional Risk Reserve Indicator

Earlier this month, Distributive Management's Peter Baxter presented at the Central Virginia INCOSE Chapter meeting.  He talked about measuring the risk management process and detailed a framework for selecting risk-related measures.

One risk indicator they discussed was Risk Reserve.  Peter's view is that the traditional risk reserve measure doesn't take into account how good (or bad) your risk management process has been to date.

He proposes a revved up Risk Reserve Indicator that lowers the risk reserve to account for the to-date accuracy of your risk management plan.

"If you don't, your risk reserve indicator is too optimistic."

Get a copy of the presentation for a full run-down on the Risk Reserve Indicator and the whole measurement information model for forecasting your risk reserve.

Request the presentation, Measuring the Risk Management Process

Read more ENotes on our web site at www.distributive.com/company_newsletter.html.  The Distributive ENote is a free, subscription-based electronic newsletter produced by Distributive Management as a service to the performance management community. The ENote provides insight and information on performance management and improvement processes, as well as Distributive Management product information.
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enote5Conundrum: The Man in the Bar
 
A man walks into a bar and asks the barman for a glass of water. Noticing something strange about the way the man said this, the barman pulled out a gun. The man said thank you and walked out without getting his glass of water. How can this be explained?
 
THE ANSWER
Distributive Management