How do you balance leading and lagging indicators in your program metrics?

1 Define your program goals and outcomes

The first step in creating effective program management dashboard metrics is to define your program goals and outcomes. What are you trying to achieve with your program? What are the benefits and impacts of your program for your organization and your customers? How will you measure your program success and value? By answering these questions, you can identify the key performance indicators (KPIs) that reflect your program outcomes and align with your strategic objectives.

2 Choose a mix of leading and lagging indicators

Leading indicators are metrics that measure the inputs and activities that drive your program outcomes. They help you predict and influence the future performance of your program. For example, the number of completed tasks, the quality of deliverables, and the stakeholder satisfaction are leading indicators of your program progress and quality. Lagging indicators are metrics that measure the outputs and results of your program outcomes. They help you evaluate and validate the past performance of your program. For example, the budget variance, the schedule variance, and the customer retention are lagging indicators of your program efficiency and effectiveness. You need a mix of leading and lagging indicators to monitor both the process and the outcome of your program.

3 Use SMART criteria for your metrics

SMART is an acronym that stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. It is a useful framework for setting and evaluating your program management dashboard metrics. Your metrics should be specific enough to capture the essential aspects of your program, measurable enough to quantify and track your progress, achievable enough to reflect your realistic expectations, relevant enough to align with your program goals and outcomes, and time-bound enough to define your reporting and review periods.

4 Visualize your metrics with dashboards and charts

Once you have defined and selected your program management dashboard metrics, you need to visualize them with dashboards and charts. Dashboards and charts are graphical representations of your metrics that help you communicate and analyze your program performance. They can help you highlight trends, patterns, and anomalies in your data, as well as compare and contrast different metrics and dimensions. You can use different types of dashboards and charts depending on your purpose and audience. For example, you can use a summary dashboard to provide a high-level overview of your program status and health, a detailed dashboard to drill down into specific aspects of your program, and a trend dashboard to show the changes and progress of your program over time.

5 Review and update your metrics regularly

The final step in using program management dashboard metrics is to review and update them regularly. You need to monitor your metrics and compare them with your baselines and targets, as well as with your external benchmarks and best practices. You need to analyze your metrics and identify the root causes and implications of any deviations or gaps. You need to report your metrics and share them with your stakeholders and sponsors, as well as with your program team and partners. And you need to update your metrics and adjust them as needed, based on your feedback, lessons learned, and changing circumstances.

Program management dashboard metrics are powerful tools for managing and improving your program performance. By balancing leading and lagging indicators, using SMART criteria, visualizing your metrics, and reviewing and updating them regularly, you can create and use program management dashboard metrics that support your program goals and outcomes.