Strategies for project management dashboards
While there are many ways to address the innumerable performance metrics of any project, the critical factors always seem to come down to time and money.
Will the project be delivered on time? Will it be completed within budgetary constraints and expectations? Stay on top of these essential parameters in your project management dashboards.
Timing
Every business has to deliver product or services in a timely way. Windows of business opportunities close quickly, market trends change, and holidays come and go. The following strategies help to effectively monitor and manage project timing:
Incorporate enough detail. Show enough grain in your project schedule to allow you to assess the progress of the project and whether or not work is being accomplished in the time frame allotted to it. Include a bit of project history from the previous weeks or months along with the list of work to be accomplished and the team members assigned to various project components. Be sure to list the actual time spent on tasks compared to the time allocated to them. This data will help determine whether the current schedule should be adjusted one way or the other to successfully meet delivery dates.
Create milestones. Break down the entire project into manageable milestones. Then you’ll be able to compare three trend lines: the timeline originally targeted, the amount of time already invested towards completion, and the actual percentage of completion that the project is currently reflecting. These variables will give you a clear idea of how the project is performing and enough perspective to forecast more effectively.
Use a time-honored tool. Earned Value Analysis (EVA) charts are valuable tools to help you measure your project’s progress at any given point in time, as well as forecast its completion date and cost. You’ll readily see when a project needs a course-correction so adjustments can be made to keep it on track for on time delivery.
Money
The other side of the fulfillment coin is money. Keeping the project within budget is essential to its (and your) success. Key strategies to stay on top of your project’s budget include:
Know where you stand: Use a Project Snapshot Report to view your project’s budget compared to what’s been billed and what has not yet been billed to your client. This way you’ll know the status of your budget at any stage of its timeline.
Include Timesheet Details: Pair the Snapshot Report with a Timesheet Details Report to provide even more insight. Make sure you can easily separate time by project, phase, and employee so you can easily identify and resolve any problems. From this, you’ll add an additional layer of depth to your dashboard.
We hope those few tips will help you! #happydashboarding!