This Focused Performance Weblog is a "business management blog" containing links and commentary related primarily to organizational effectiveness with a "Theory of Constraints" perspective. TOC is noted for its applications in Project Management and Multi-Project Management (Critical Chain) and Operations Management (Drum-Buffer-Rope), as well as in Marketing, Strategic Planning and Change Management (TOC Thinking Processes). If you are on an archive page, current postings are found here.
Tuesday, January 06, 2004
Presentation of Metrics -- In a comment to a recent post, Hal mentions Joe Ely's post on metrics. Worth a peek for the consideration of simplified metrics. Rolling averages are good things, often applied to analysis of trends, which are often far more meaningful than snapshots.
Related to such analyses of trends is what is known as a "fever chart" in Critical Chain and Buffer-managed projects...
...tracking the relationship of buffer remaining to anticipated time remaining on the project. The slanted thresholds between green, yellow, and red statuses reflect that as the project approaches completion, less buffer is needed to protect against uncertainty.
Recognizing the clear value of trend watching, snapshots can occasionally come in handy when comparing the states of different entities; for example, the relative health of projects in an effort to determine whether one deserves special management attention.
This variation of the fever chart nicely summarizes current completion progress and buffer state for a number of projects in varying conditions. Those that have crossed thresholds in this reporting period are indicated by two dots and an arrow. This provides clear, uncluttered focus that allows the quick assessment of a range of projects.
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