2 pages single 

Using PMBOK references 

PJM6125 Project Evaluation: Performance Dashboard

Overview and Rationale

For this assignment, you will create a project performance dashboard.

Program and Course Outcomes

This assignment is directly linked to the following key learning outcomes from the course syllabus:

LO8: Create a performance dashboard to summarize and report project performance status

In addition to these key learning outcomes, you will also have the opportunity to evidence the following skills through completing this assignment:

· Critical thinking and analysis

· Problem solving

Essential Components & Instructions

Throughout this course, you have used a project you selected to create a set of performance metrics, identify performance tool for each metric, and write a performance report relying on earned value. But Earned Value is only one of the evaluation tools identified by each of you. For this final assignment, you will create a performance dashboard for the project you have used throughout this course. I have included some readings on performance dashboards in the reading this week, and you have already done most of the work with your performance evaluation matrix. Here is what you need to do for this assignment:

· Using the latest version of your performance evaluation matrix (make sure you have updated it with my feedback), create a performance dashboard that includes all the relevant performance evaluation tools you identified

· Specifically, create a way of presenting and/or displaying the performance data in a single page or excel spreadsheet so that relevant project stakeholders could view it

In addition to creating the dashboard, you will need to provide a guide and/or legend to it. Namely, you will want to provide a few paragraphs describing who is responsible for updating and maintaining the dashboard, how frequently the different metrics will be updated, and any other relevant details you think are pertinent.

Format

As I grade you dashboards, I will be looking at the following items closely:

· Does it include all the tools you identified in your performance evaluation matrix?

· It is arranged in a clear and professional looking manner?

· Do you provide a clear description / guide for each of the metrics?

· Do you state how frequently it will be updated and by whom?

· The document should be free and clear of grammatical and typographical errors

Please be sure to review the attached rubric. It along with these assignment instructions will ensure you have a solid understanding of the assignment requirements.

Rubric(s)

Assessment Element	Above Standard (100-95%)	Meets Standards (94.9 – 84%)	Approaching Standards (83.9 – 77%)	Below Standard (76.9 – 70%)	Not Evident (69.9 – 0%)
Performance Evaluation (50%)	Illustrates a discerning awareness of performance evaluation reporting and contains all required elements.	Illustrates an understanding of performance evaluation reporting and contains all required elements	Illustrates an understanding of performance evaluation reporting, but does not include all required elements or one or more elements provide insufficient data.	Illustrates only a basic understanding of performance evaluation reporting, includes minimal elements and insufficient data	The submission fails to illustrate an understanding of performance evaluation reporting.
Critical Thinking (35%)	Professional insights into depth and breadth of assignment – goes WELL beyond assignment requirements to explore performance evaluation reporting and dashboards.	Showcases a comprehensive understanding of the performance issues related to the project environment and evidences a strong analysis of performance evaluation reporting.	Showcases a base understanding of the performance issues related to the project environment and evidences a less than thorough analysis of performance evaluation reporting.	Does not evidence a base understanding of the performance issues related to the project environment and evidences a weak analysis of performance evaluation reporting.	Evidences a very poor understanding of performance evaluation reporting.
Grammar & Clarity (15%)	All work grammatically correct with no misspellings or grammatical mistakes. Expresses ideas and opinions clearly and concisely in a manner appropriate to the assignment.	All work grammatically correct with rare misspellings.	Minimal errors in spelling, grammar, sentence structure and/or other writing conventions but the reader is able to understand what the writer meant.	Frequent errors in spelling, grammar, sentence structure, and/or other writing conventions that distract the reader.	Writing contains numerous errors in spelling, grammar, sentence structure, etc. that interfere with comprehension. The reader is unable to understand some of the intended meaning.

Running Head: EVALUATION

1

EVALUATION 2

Anh La

PJM 6125

Selecting Evaluation Tools

Northeastern University

03/11/2020

Project Objective

Our efforts are focussed on opening an Orangetheory Fitness franchise at Longwood location within four months starting from February 2020. Our analysis showed that many gym goers around Longwood area are extremely dissatisfied with the services and training methods of other fitness centers. The budget for the project is $80,000 and we have 1.5 years to finish it.

Stakeholder Register/Analysis

Stakeholder

Stakeholders role

Type (internal or external)

Stakeholder expectation

Stakeholder interest

Level of influence

Stakeholder views

Strategy for stakeholder engagement

1

Financial manager

Handle project resources

Internal

Possible overruns on the project and return on investment

high

High: failure to evaluate expenditure might rid the credibility of project to the stakeholders.

Neutral

Give daily reporting on the expenditures.

2

Customers

Offer ready market for the fitness class

External

Advancement of service delivery, advanced economic conditions like cost-savings conveniences and measures.

High

High: the unsatisfied clients will destroy the organization reputation.

Neutral

Provide a platform to include the client’s needs and provide incentive.

3

Project management trainer

Enables the training of workers for at least two months

Internal

Advance the credibility as well as job references on the future projects

High

High: realize the achievement of training

support

Offer a conducive environment for training in reference to space.

4

Employee manager

Present the entire project to the company officials.

Internal

Works on ensuring that employees perform quality task as needed

High

High: oversee training and ensuring that all things are in order

Support

Maintain strong existence through the training period.

5

Trainees

Attaining training sessions, attending evaluations and acquiring necessary skills

Internal

Opportunities for job retention or promotion, “free” time during training, acquisition of knowledge and skills

Medium

High: their attitude towards the training as well as attendance will determine the project’s success

support

Use of attendance sheet to evaluate attendance

6

Financial institution

Offers funds to run the project

External

Enable financial opportunities and relationship between the company and the clients

High

High: lack of source of funds the project will not be successfully completed

Support

Lower interest percentage and extended means of payment

7

Executive directors

Work with the project shareholders and explain the project plan for them to approve

Internal

Ease all the pressures from the project shareholders to work together to gain profit and increase pay

High

High: if there is no intervention by these directors then the shareholders might not approve

Support

Reporting the daily proceeding to the shareholders.

8

Suppliers

Being contracted to offer necessary equipment for the project

External

Improves the credibility of the business and facilitate the progress of the project

High

High: if supplies are not delivered on time it will mean that the progress of the project will be delayed

High

Timely delivery of supplies for the continuation of project.

9

Shareholders

Offer resources and approve the progress of the project

External

Additional vendor selection qualification criteria, potential for future business contracts,

High

High: failure to deliver supplies on time will affect the project timeline

High

Draft performance contracts to ascertain timely delivery of supplies.

10

Instructional designer

To offer a manual on ways in which the project operations will be carried out

External

promote their work as well as increase credibility and

Medium

High: the design and delivery of training should not stray away from the organization’s goals

Neutral

Formulate a design and mode of delivery that is aligned with the organization’s goals.

11

Government

Ensure compliance with necessary regulations.

External

Revenue inform of company and employee taxes, increased job opportunities, improved economy

High

High: the approval from relevant authority is necessary to carry out the project

Support

Encourage the company to have such projects by endorsing supplies like trainee t-shirts, potential for future funding.

12

Technical manager

Oversee the installation, use and handling of all technical equipment to be used in the training.

Internal

Get access to quality technical equipment, showoff technical skills, put in request for technical upgrades

Medium

Medium: their expertise will facilitate a smooth training

Support

Check to ensure equipment is well-handled and in good condition throughout the training.

Evaluation Goal Matrix

Goal

Measurement type

Metric

Stakeholder

Evaluation Tool

1. Estimation of cost and striking budget.

Efficiency

$50,000

Finance manager

Analogous Estimation and Parametric Estimation
Analogous estimation will involve review of historical data on similar projects that will be used to estimate the costs of the project as well as the striking budget.
Given that analogous estimation presents a relatively accurate estimation, parametric estimation will be used to enhance the results (Samoset & Christiansen, 2017). Parametric estimation employs statistical modelling techniques.
These tools will be used by the financial manager to estimate the costs of the project thereby ensuring that resources are always available throughout the project.

2. Timely completion of tasks within stipulated deadline

Efficiency

2 months

Employee manager

Parametric estimation
This tool is effective in estimating the time that a project will take. It takes account of the time that every deliverable takes and adds it up to determine how much time will be required to completely finish the project.
This tool will be used by the employee manager to ensure that deliverables are completed within their set timeframes.

3. Proper utilization of available supplies to last the project duration

Efficiency

A remainder of supply materials at the end of the project

Employees

Classic Technique
This tool ensures that resources are efficiently utilized. This is done through drawing down all the deliverables of the project beforehand and ensuring that the resources required for the deliverable are available beforehand. The estimation of these supplies is done before the whole project begins as well as before a given task.
This tool will be used by employees. It will enhance resource allocation and utilization. Thus efficiency will be achieved.

4. Proper utilization of available space for training

Efficiency

Accommodation of 100 trainees in two hall-size meeting rooms

Trainees, employee manager

Classic Technique
The training halls will be mapped with the trainees who will receive training in them. As such, the classic technique will be used to place each trainee in one of the halls at a given time, with the required resources for the training process. This will ensure that there is no underutilization or unused resources (Zidane et al., 2016).
The project managers will use this tool to ensure that all the trainees are effectively placed in the available space.

5. Reputable, highly rated trainer firm

Effectiveness

Reference to past acclaimed presentations nationwide

Trainers

Hiring Criteria
A hiring criteria will be established where the qualities of the hired trainer firm will be checked against the hiring criteria. This way, only the bets firm will be selected.
The project managers will use this tool to ensure that only the best suited trainer firm is selected.

6. Successful training project

Effectiveness

80% trainee attendance based on sign-in sheets

Employees

Interviews
The trainees will be interviewed to get a report of the training process. The interview questions will be tailored to ensure that they will evaluate the outcomes of the training process against the set objectives.
This tool will be used by the organizations management to ensure that the training process was a success.

7. Successful project implementations

Effectiveness

10% increase in success rate of projects undertaken

Trainers, employees

Interviews
Trainers and employees will be interviewed on their satisfaction with the project implementation. Their work will be located at the gym. They will therefore offer verdict on their satisfaction with the project.
This tool will be used by the organizations management to ensure that the project implementation was a success.

8. Alignment of instruction design and delivery mode with organization’s goals

Effectiveness

Instruction manual teachings centered around the projects implemented by organization

Instruction designer, trainers

Key performance indicators (KPI)
KPIs will provide data driven evidence of the alignment process. They will be necessary in reporting how the instruction design and delivery mode is p0erforming when compared to set objectives.
The project managers will check the instruction design and delivery modes against set objectives as per KPIs.

9. Skills and knowledge enhancement in the field of project management

Impact

70% success rate on project management exam results

Trainers, employees

Performance Appraisals
Performance appraisals, just like KPIs evaluate the success of an undertaking. Performance appraisals will be used to evaluate the levels of skills and knowledge gained in the field of project management. The appraisals will test for skills and competencies of the trainers and employees.
The project managers will check the skills and knowledge against set minimum performance metrics.

10. Innovation in project creation and implementation

Impact

5% increase in new project idea submissions

Employees, employee manager

360 degree feedback
This tool will assess the performance of employees regarding innovation from the eyes of the people surrounding them (Kärnä&Junnonen, 2016). Employee managers and employees themselves will give feedback about every employee on their innovation during project creation and implementation.
This tool will be used by the project managers to measure individual employees’ innovativeness in project creation and implementation.

11. Gaining competitive edge

Impact

Approaches for consultation by other organizations

Directors, employee manager, employees

Differentiation Strategy
The organization’s differentiation strategy will inform its performance as compared to peers. When the products are well differentiated from those of competitors, the business will have gained a competitive edge.
This tool be used by the organization’s management to identify ways through which the organization can implement differentiation as a competitive strategy (Yang &Vashney, 2016).

12. Client satisfaction

Impact

New client referrals, growing clientele base

Customers

Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT)
CSAT is a metric that is used to measure the customers’ satisfaction regarding a certain product or service that they receive (Liu et al., 2017). As such, the organization will use CSAT to get feedback about the training services offered. This tool will be used by organization’s management to track the success of the project in terms of client satisfaction.
This tool be used by the organization’s management to identify areas of the project with which the clients are satisfied or not satisfied with.

1.2: Evaluation Goal Matrix.

References

Büyüközkan, G., &Karabulut, Y. (2017). Energy project performance evaluation with sustainability perspective. Energy, 119, 549-560. Retrieved from

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544216318928

Kärnä, S., &Junnonen, J. M. (2016). Benchmarking construction industry, company and project performance by participants’ evaluation. Benchmarking: An International Journal. Retrieved from

https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/BIJ-05-2015-0050/full/html

Liu, F., Zhu, W. D., Chen, Y. W., Xu, D. L., & Yang, J. B. (2017). Evaluation, ranking and selection of R&D projects by multiple experts: an evidential reasoning rule based approach. Scientometrics, 111(3), 1501-1519. Retrieved from

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11192-017-2278-1

Samset, K., & Christensen, T. (2017). Ex ante project evaluation and the complexity of early decision-making. Public Organization Review, 17(1), 1-17. Retrieved from

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11115-015-0326-y

Yang, A. T., &Varshney, U. (2017). Categorizing Mobile Health Project Evaluation Techniques. Retrieved from

https://aisel.aisnet.org/amcis2017/Healthcare/Presentations/14/

Zidane, Y. J., Johansen, A., Hussein, B. A., & Andersen, B. (2016). PESTOL-Framework for «project evaluation on strategic, tactical and operational levels». International Journal of Information System and Project Management, 4(3), 25-41. Retrieved from

http://www.sciencesphere.org/ijispm/archive/ijispm-040302

What Are Performance Dashboards?

By Wayne W. Eckerson

This article is an excerpt from the book Performance Dashboards: Measuring,
Monitoring, and Managing Your Business by Wayne W. Eckerson, Director of
Research and Services at The Data Warehousing Institute, a worldwide
association of data warehousing and business intelligence professionals.

THE CONTEXT FOR PERFORMANCE DASHBOARDS
The Power of Focus
Executives in Training
This summer I found my 11-year-old son, Harry, and his best pal, Jake, kneeling side by side in
our driveway, peering intensely at the pavement. As I walked over to inspect this curious sight, I
saw little puffs of smoke rising from their huddle. Each had a magnifying glass and was using it
to set fire to clumps of dry grass as well as a few unfortunate ants who had wandered into their
makeshift science experiment.

In this boyhood rite of passage, Harry and Jake learned an important lesson that escapes the
attention of many organizations today: the power of focus. Light rays normally radiate harmlessly
in all directions, bouncing off objects in the atmosphere and the earth’s surface. The boys had
discovered, however, that if they focused light rays onto a single point using a magnifying glass,
they could generate enough energy to burn just about anything and keep themselves entertained
for hours!

By the time Harry and Jake enter the business world (if they do), they will probably have
forgotten this simple lesson. They will have become steeped in corporate cultures that excel at
losing focus and dissipating energy far and wide. Most organizations have multiple business
units, divisions, and departments, each with their own products, strategies, initiatives,
applications, and systems to support them. A good portion of these activities are redundant at best
and conflicting at worst. The organization as a whole spins off in multiple directions at once
without a clear strategy. Changes in leadership, mergers, acquisitions, and reorganizations
amplify the chaos.

Organizational Magnifying Glass
To rectify this problem, companies need an “organizational magnifying glass”—something that
focuses the work of employees so everyone is going in the same direction. Strong leaders do this.
However, even the voice of a charismatic executive is sometimes drowned out by organizational
inertia.

Strong leaders need more than just the force of their personality and experience to focus an
organization. They need an information system that helps them clearly and concisely

communicate key strategies and goals to all employees on a personal basis every day. The system
should focus workers on tasks and activities that best advance the organization’s strategies and
goals. It should measure performance, reward positive contributions, and align efforts so that
workers in every group and level of the organization are marching together toward the same
destination.

Performance Management System
In short, what organizations really need is a performance dashboard that translates the
organization’s strategy into objectives, metrics, initiatives, and tasks customized to each group
and individual in the organization. A performance dashboard is really a performance management
system. It communicates strategic objectives and enables business people to measure, monitor,
and manage the key activities and processes needed to achieve their goals.

To work this magic, a performance dashboard provides three main sets of functionality,
which I will describe in more detail later. Briefly, a performance dashboard lets business people:

Monitor critical business processes and activities using metrics of business
performance that trigger alerts when potential problems arise.

Analyze the root cause of problems by exploring relevant and timely information
from multiple perspectives and at various levels of detail.

Manage people and processes to improve decisions, optimize performance, and steer
the organization in the right direction.

Agents of Organizational Change
A performance dashboard is a powerful agent of organizational change. When deployed properly,
it can transform an under-performing organization into a high flier. Like a magnifying glass, a
performance dashboard can focus organizations on the key things it needs to do to succeed. It
provides executives, managers, and workers with timely and relevant information so they can
measure, monitor, and manage their progress toward achieving key strategic objectives.

One of the more popular types of performance dashboards today is the Balanced Scorecard,
which adheres to a specific methodology for aligning organizations with corporate strategy. A
Balanced Scorecard is a strategic application, but as we shall soon see, there are other types of
performance dashboards that optimize operational and tactical processes that drive organizations
on a weekly, daily, or even hourly basis.

Historical Context
Executive Dashboards and Cockpits
Although dashboards have long been a fixture in automobiles and other vehicles, business,
government, and non-profit organizations have only recently adopted the concept. The trend
started among executives who became enamored with the idea of having an “executive
dashboard” or “executive cockpit” with which to drive their companies from their boardroom
perches. These executive information systems (EIS) actually date back to the 1980s, but they
never gained much traction, because the systems were geared to so few people in each company
and were built on mainframes or minicomputers that made them costly to customize and
maintain.

In the past 20 years, information technology has advanced at a rapid clip. Mainframes and
minicomputers largely gave way to client/server systems, which in turn were supplanted by the
Web as the preeminent platform for running applications and delivering information. Along the
way, the economy turned global, squeezing revenues and profits and increasing competition for
ever-more demanding customers. Executives responded by reengineering processes, improving
quality, and cutting costs, but these efforts have only provided short-term relief, not lasting value.

Convergence
During the 1990s, organizations began experimenting with ways to give business users direct and
timely access to critical information, an emerging field known as business intelligence. At the
same time, executives started turning to new performance management disciplines, such as
Balanced Scorecards, Six Sigma, Economic Value Add, and Activity-Based Costing, to harness
the power of information to optimize performance and deliver greater value to the business.

These initiatives convinced many executives that they could gain lasting competitive
advantage by empowering employees to work proactively and make better decisions by giving
them relevant, actionable information. Essentially, executives recognized that the EIS of the
1980s was a good idea but too narrowly focused; everyone, not just executives, needed an EIS.
Fortunately, executives did not have to wait long for a solution. At the dawn of the 21st century,
business intelligence converged with performance management to create the performance
dashboard.

Market Trends
This convergence has created a flood of interest in performance dashboards since the year 2000.
A study by The Data Warehousing Institute (TDWI) in 2004 showed that most organizations (51
percent) already use a dashboard or scorecard and that another 17 percent are currently
developing one. The same study showed that almost one-third of organizations that already have
a dashboard or scorecard use it as their primary application for reporting and analysis of data.

Benefits
The reason so many organizations are implementing performance dashboards is a practical one:
they offer a panoply of benefits to everyone in an organization, from executives to managers to
staff. Here is a condensed list of benefits:

Communicate Strategy.
Refine Strategy.
Increase Visibility.
Increase Coordination.
Increase Motivation.
Give a Consistent View of the Business.
Reduce Costs and Redundancy.
Empower Users.
Deliver Actionable Information.

In short, performance dashboards deliver the right information to the right users at the
right time to optimize decisions, enhance efficiency, and accelerate bottom-line results.

Pretenders to the Throne
Although many organizations have implemented dashboards and scorecards, not all have
succeeded. In most cases, organizations have been tantalized by glitzy graphical interfaces and
have failed to build a solid foundation by applying sound performance management principles
and implementing appropriate business intelligence and data integration technologies and
processes. Here are the common symptoms of less than successful solutions:

Too Flat. Many organizations create performance management systems, especially
tactical and strategic dashboards, using Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, and
advanced charting packages. Although these applications often look fancy, they

generally do not provide enough data or analytical capabilities to let users explore the
root cause of problems highlighted in the fancy graphical indicators.

Too Manual. In addition, some organizations rely too heavily on manual methods to
update performance dashboards that contain sizable amounts of information. Highly
skilled business analysts spend several days a week collecting and massaging this
information instead of analyzing it. The majority of performance dashboards automate
the collection and delivery of information, ensuring a sustainable solution over the long
term.

Too Isolated. Some performance dashboards source data from a single system or
appeal to a very small audience. As a result, they provide a narrow or parochial view of
the business, not an enterprise view. In addition, these dashboards often contain data
and metrics that do not align with the rest of the organization, leading to confusion and
chaos.

In the end, performance dashboards are only as effective as the organizations they seek to

measure. Organizations without central control or coordination will deploy a haphazard jumble of
non-integrated performance dashboards. However, organizations that have a clear strategy, a
positive culture, and a strong information infrastructure can deliver performance management
systems that make a dramatic impact on performance.

For more information on this book go here.

For more information on dashboards go here.

This chapter “WHAT ARE PERFORMANCE DASHBOARDS” is excerpted from
Performance Dashboards: Measuring, Monitoring, and Managing Your
Business (0-471-72417-3, October 2005) with permission from the
publisher John Wiley & Sons. You may not make any other use, or
authorize others to make any other use, of this excerpt, in any print
or non-print format, including electronic or multimedia.

http://www.bpmpartners.com/dashboards.shtml