A successful program is measured based on delivering positive results leading to business outcomes and many organizations tend to utilize KPIs to evaluate the performance of the Project Management Office (PMO). They might follow the project management process but they ignore reviewing the business outcome of their efforts. Gartner, says that “Not only do PMO leaders need metrics and measures to report their organization’s activities accurately, but they also need to ‘sell’ the PMO’s usefulness and value to the enterprise.”
Tracking PMO performance is not as simple as tracking on-time project delivery within the estimated budget. There is a lot more to it that determines whether the project delivery is successful and also that the PMO is operating as efficiently as it should be. Only by assessing the performance of the PMO, an organization can begin to establish best practices by learning from mistakes and changing the perspective when there is room for improvement.
Many companies fail to often measure project management aligned with the business outcome. So how can project management offices ensure that they are reaching their goals that are so vital to the organization’s success?
OKRs, or Objectives & Key Results, are a powerful goal-setting tool that companies of all sizes and industries use to help set priorities, align goals, and achieve success in their organization. A project management team can undoubtedly use this framework to focus their efforts on what truly matters for the success and development of their business, and help ensure that all requirements are met with focus and alignment.
In this article, we’ve given you 10 great examples of OKRs that would be helpful for your project management team.
Example 1
Your team may work around the clock on a project timeline, but how efficient are they in measuring results? Encourage your team to focus on the objective and its corresponding key results with KPIs that might focus on on-time completion percentage, resource conflict, and a number of adjustments to the schedule.
Objective : Manage project timeline effectively
KR 1 : Increase on-time completion percentage from 85%to 95%
KR 2 : Decrease resource conflict from 40% to 20%
KR 3 : Decrease the number of adjustments to the schedule from 5 to 2
Objective
Manage project timeline effectively
Target Date: Q4-2021
Visibility: All Employees
Key Results
Increase on-time completion percentage from 85%to 95%
on-time completion percentageDecrease resource conflict from 40% to 20%
Resource conflictDecrease the number of adjustments to the schedule from 5 to 2
Number of adjustments to the scheduleExample 2
Managing your project budget is a vital aspect in evaluating the PMO performance, so help your team manage budget by controlling the project costs with the approved budget towards the delivery of desired project goals.
Objective : Improve project budget management
KR 1 : Maintain project budget variance between $1000 to $3000
KR 2 : Reduce the number of budget iteration from 7 to 4
KR 3 : Maintain cost performance index by at least 30%
Objective
Improve project budget management
Target Date: Q4-2021
Visibility: All Employees
Key Results
Maintain project budget variance between $1000 to $3000
Budget VarianceReduce the number of budget iteration from 7 to 4
Budget IterationMaintain cost performance index by at least 30%
Cost Performance IndexExample 3
Try to implement the habit of enhancing the project quality among your teams, by helping them focus on the process and the activity that augments their performance towards quality policies, objectives, and responsibilities of the project undertaken.
Objective : Boost the quality of PMO performance
KR 1 : Improve net promoter score from 3.5 to 4.0
KR 2 : Increase # of projects delivered from 5 to 7
KR 3 : Increase the % of projects reporting the earned value on a monthly basis from 75% to 85%
Objective
Boost the quality of PMO performance
Target Date: Q4-2021
Visibility: All Employees
Key Results
Improve net promoter score from 3.5 to 4.0
NPSIncrease # of projects delivered from 5 to 7
# of projects deliveredIncrease the % of projects reporting the earned value on a monthly basis from 75% to 85%
% of projects reportingExample 4
The effectiveness of the project relies on meeting the end by doing the right thing for the desired time period. This means that efficiency does not focus on managing quality for the short term instead the word effectiveness means focusing on long-term quality with the desired objective and key result.
Objective : Improve the project effectiveness
KR 1 : Maintain the training/research hours between 10hrs to 15hrs
KR 2 : Reduce the number of unplanned change requests from 5 to 0
KR 3 : Maintain billable utilization hours between 40 hrs to 20hrs
Objective
Improve the project effectiveness
Target Date: Q4-2021
Visibility: All Employees
Key Results
Maintain the training/research hours between 10hrs to 15hrs
Training/Research HoursReduce the number of unplanned change requests from 5 to 0
Unplanned Change RequestsMaintain billable utilization hours between 40 hrs to 20hrs
Billable Utilization HoursExample 5
Make sure that your team develops the quality of monitoring the process of project tasks throughout the stages. The KPIs suggested here like the baseline schedule, milestones achieved on time, project tasks on a critical path CPM will help your team actively make decisions and accommodate to changes of the real-time issues and progress.
Objective : Improve the execution of project task management
KR 1 : Decrease time taken for baseline schedule from 128 hrs to 80 hrs
KR 2 : Increase the number of milestones achieved on time from 50% to 80%
KR 3 : Reduce the percentage of project tasks on critical path CPM from 40% to 20%
Objective
Improve the execution of project task management
Target Date: Q4-2021
Visibility: All Employees
Key Results
Decrease time taken for baseline schedule from 128 hrs to 80hrs
Baseline ScheduleIncrease the number of milestones achieved on time from 50% to 80%
Milestones Achieved on TimeReduce the percentage of project tasks on critical path CPM from 40% to 20%
Project Tasks on Critical Path CPMExample 6
During the times where you encounter problems while executing the project, you need to be ready to resolve issues promptly. Just identifying the issues that impair the project’s ability to progress on time itself can help you save 60% of your time, and resolving them promptly after identifying them will accelerate the project performance.
Objective : Resolve project issues on time
KR 1 : Decrease number of unresolved issues from 30 to 10
KR 2 : Decrease the number of issues per resource from 20 to 0
KR 3 : Decrease the number of customer issues from 10 to 0
Objective
Resolve project issues on time
Target Date: Q4-2021
Visibility: All Employees
Key Results
Decrease number of unresolved issues from 30 to 10
Unresolved IssuesDecrease the number of issues per resource from 20 to 0
Issues per ResourceDecrease the number of customer issues from 10 to 0
Customer IssuesExample 7
While working on a project, your team may encounter uncertain events or, unexpected conditions, predicting them beforehand can help you be ready with the solutions. KPIs that identify risks and catastrophic events can help you detect issues right away and solve them without any inconvenience.
Objective : Improve project risk management process
KR 1 : Decrease the number of risks with catastrophic impact from 30% to 5%
KR 2 : Increase the number of reviewed project risks from 60% to 100%
KR 3 : Increase the number of closed project risks from 70% to 100%
Objective
Improve project risk management process
Target Date: Q4-2021
Visibility: All Employees
Key Results
Decrease the number of risks with catastrophic impact from 30% to 5%
Number of risks with Catastrophic ImpactIncrease the number of reviewed project risks from 60% to 100%
Number of Reviewed Project RisksIncrease the number of closed project risks from 70% to 100%
Closed Project RisksExample 8
Your team may focus on achieving the level of progress to attain the objective, so planning and tracking the status of the project right from the beginning to the end will help your team attain their corresponding objective and key results on time. The KPIs suggested below can drive your goal effectively.
Objective : Elevate the health status of your project
KR 1 : Increase number of projects in green (on schedule) between 8 to 10
KR 2 : Reduce the number of canceled projects from 10 to 4
KR 3 : Decrease the number of on-hold projects from 5 to 1
Objective
Elevate the health status of your project
Target Date: Q4-2021
Visibility: All Employees
Key Results
Increase number of projects in green (on schedule) between 8 to 10
Projects in green (on schedule)Reduce the number of canceled projects from 10 to 4
Canceled ProjectsDecrease the number of on-hold projects from 5 to 1
Number of on-hold ProjectsExample 9
Managing the project resource in an effective way can be challenging, listed below are some of the best key results that would help your team focus on the resources efficiently to complete the project within the approved resource.
Objective : Optimize project resource utilization
KR 1 : Increase resource-wise percentage utilization in a project from 85% to 90%
KR 2 : Maintain the cost of resource billing in a project at least at $4000
KR 3 : Increase the resource forecasting accuracy from 75% to 90%
Objective
Optimize project resource utilization
Target Date: Q4-2021
Visibility: All Employees
Key Results
Increase resource-wise percentage utilization in a project from 85% to 90%
Resource-wise Percentage UtilizationMaintain the cost of resource billing in a project at least at $4000
Resource Billing in a ProjectIncrease the resource forecasting accuracy from 75% to 90%
Resource Forecasting AccuracyExample 10
Help your team focus on product efficiency so that the performance of the product can be leveraged towards the commitment made by your team to the client. Try focusing on the key results that would spotlight functional test coverage, post-product defect test, and product features to business value mapping score.
Objective : Boost the functional efficacy of the product
KR 1 : Increase functional test coverage executed based on business requirements from 70% to 100%
KR 2 : Reduce the post product defects test rate from 7% to 4%
KR 3 : Maintain the product features to business value mapping score at >8
Objective
Boost the functional efficacy of the product
Target Date: Q4-2021
Visibility: All Employees
Key Results
Increase functional test coverage executed based on business requirements from 70% to 100%
Functional Test CoverageReduce the post product defects test rate from 7% to 4%
Post Product Defects TestMaintain the product features to business value mapping score at >8
product features to business value mapping scoreThese ten examples of project management OKRs can serve as a starting point to set the success metrics for your organization. Getting the wheels turning and reading OKR examples can help you visualize the OKR structure as well as brainstorm what your top objectives should be! It helps you consider multiple perspectives and find the best possible OKRs to measure the performance of PMO.
The benefits of the OKR framework include a better focus on results that matter, increased transparency, and better (strategic) alignment. OKR achieves this by organizing employees and the work they do around achieving common Objectives.
Are you managing PMO OKRs on software? If not, you could run into issues with transparency, alignment, traceability, and consistency. Profit.co software is the best, most intuitive software that helps all teams – from the smallest of start-ups to the largest of enterprises – to focus, measure, and achieve their goals.
Want to see what Profit.co can do in your business? Check out our product page, or book a free, tailored demo with our OKR experts to break down what you need from an OKR software, and how Profit.co can adjust to your organization’s exact specifications. Want to dive in instead? Try Profit.co completely free for 30 days!
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