What are the best ways to measure and report the performance of an automotive engineering portfolio?

1 Define your portfolio objectives

Before you can measure and report the performance of your portfolio, you need to define what you want to achieve with it. What are the expected outcomes, benefits, and value of your portfolio? How do they align with the vision, mission, and strategy of your organization? How do they support the needs and expectations of your stakeholders? You should have clear and SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound) objectives for your portfolio, and communicate them to your team and stakeholders.

2 Select relevant metrics

Once you have your portfolio objectives, you need to select the metrics that will help you track and evaluate them. Metrics are quantifiable indicators used to measure the progress, performance, and results of your portfolio. It is important to choose metrics that are relevant, reliable, valid, and consistent with your portfolio objectives. Examples of metrics for automotive engineering portfolios include financial metrics like return on investment (ROI), net present value (NPV), internal rate of return (IRR), or cost variance (CV). Quality metrics like defect rate, customer satisfaction, or quality assurance (QA) audits can also be used. Additionally, time metrics such as schedule variance (SV), delivery time, or milestone completion can be tracked. Other metrics include scope metrics such as scope change requests, scope creep, or scope verification as well as risk metrics such as risk exposure, risk impact, or risk response.

3 Use a dashboard

A dashboard is a visual tool that displays the key metrics and data of your portfolio in a concise and easy-to-understand format. A dashboard can help you monitor and report the performance of your portfolio in real time, identify trends and patterns, and highlight issues and opportunities. You should design your dashboard to suit your audience, purpose, and context. For example, you can use different colors, charts, graphs, or icons to represent different aspects of your portfolio performance. You can also customize your dashboard to show different levels of detail, such as summary, overview, or drill-down.

4 Report regularly and transparently

Reporting is the process of communicating the performance of your portfolio to your stakeholders, such as management, customers, or sponsors. It can inform, persuade, or influence them, as well as solicit feedback and support. You should report the performance of your portfolio regularly and transparently, using the dashboard and other tools. To make your report effective, you should tailor it to your audience and their needs. Additionally, use clear and concise language while avoiding jargon and technical terms. Focus on the key messages and findings while providing evidence and data to support your claims and recommendations. Visuals and graphics can also help make your report more engaging. Lastly, be honest and objective in acknowledging the strengths and weaknesses of your portfolio.

5 Review and improve

Finally, you should review and improve the performance of your portfolio continuously, based on the metrics and data you collect and report. You should use the feedback and input from your stakeholders, as well as your own observations and analysis, to identify the gaps, issues, and risks in your portfolio, and to implement corrective and preventive actions. You should also celebrate the achievements and successes of your portfolio, and recognize the contributions and efforts of your team and stakeholders. You should strive to create a culture of learning and improvement in your portfolio, and to adapt to the changing needs and expectations of your environment.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?