43 Essential KPIs For Project Management (You Must Know)

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Let me explain to you what are the key Project Management KPIs once and for all!

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What Are Project Management KPIs

In project management, there are different metrics that can be tracked to measure a team’s performance and see how well they are doing.

In other words, having clear KPIs for project management allows companies and individuals to agree on specific goals, ensures teams are productive, and helps track performance.

For project management KPIs to be effective, they should be understood and agreed upon by the parties before the project begins.

In addition, you want the KPIs to be easily measured so you can assess how things are going during the course of the project.

KPIs can also be used to motivate teams and rally the entire group to achieve certain goals provided they are realistic, relevant to the project, and tailored to the company’s culture.

Companies and individuals working on projects should consider tracking the right project management KPIs to ensure the project is handled successfully and to demonstrate to the client their ability to meet specific targets.

Keep reading as I will provide you with the main project management KPIs you should consider for your projects.

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43 Essential KPIs For Project Management 

Projects can vary in scope and complexity requiring different KPIs to be measured.

To help you identify the key performance indicators for project management, I will present to you the KPIs grouped in different categories.

Here they are!

Project Execution Time KPIs

Projects executed on time not only show that the service provider or project manager is effective but helps create a relationship of trust between the service provider and client.

Here are some KPIs relating to the execution time of a project:

• Cycle Time: This is how much time you need to complete a certain task
• On-Time Completion Percentage: This shows how many tasks were completed on time
• Time Spent: This shows how much time was spent on the project
• Number of Adjustments To Schedule: This shows how many times the project manager has changed the scheduled completion time of the project
• FTE Days: This shows how many full-time equivalent working days are spent on the project
• Planned Hours vs Time Spent: This shows how much time was planned for the project and how much time was actually spent
• Resource Capacity: This tells you how much time specific resources have spent on a project in relation to how much they had available to work
• Resource Conflict YOY: This shows how many projects with resource conflicts there are year over year
• Project errors: This shows how many errors were made impacting cost and timeline
• Project velocity: This shows how many tasks were completed in a particular sprint 

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Project Budgeting KPIs

Project budgeting KPIs are specific metrics used to ensure that you are properly planning and budgeting for the project.

Here are the main budget KPIs for project management:

• Budget Variance: This shows how much your project budget varies from the actual numbers
• Budget Creation Cycle Time: This shows how much time you need to create a project budget
• Line Items In Budget: This helps organizations track different expenditures for a project
• Number of Budget Iterations: This shows how many budget versions were created before it was finally approved
• Planned Value: This shows the cost of what needs to be spent for what is left in the project
• Cost Performance Index: This compares budget costs to actual expenditures 

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Project Quality KPIs

Projects should be executed on time and respecting the budget.

However, the work should also be done with high quality so the customer is satisfied.

Here are some project quality KPIs for you to track customer satisfaction:

• Customer Satisfaction: This is an overall measure of how satisfied the customer is with the project and those working on the project 
• Net Promoter Score: This is typically a one-question survey that tracks the customer’s loyalty level
• Number of Errors: This shows how many errors were done on the project requiring the project teams to start over again
• Customer Complaints: This shows how many times someone internally or on the customer side has complained relating to certain aspects of the project
• Employee Churn Rate: This shows the percentage of employees leaving the team as they have left the company 

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Project Effectiveness KPIs

Companies need to ensure their projects are handled effectively so they remain as profitable as possible.

Here are some of the most important project effectiveness KPIs:

• Average Cost Per Hour: This shows much it costs for the service provider to complete the project on a “per hour” basis 
• Resource Profitability: This shows how profitable your resources are on various projects
• Number of Project Milestones Completed On Time With Sign-Off: This shows how many milestones in the project were completed with the client’s sign-off
• Number of Returns: This shows how many items were returned during the project
• Training Needed For Project: This measures how much time your resources needed training or had to do research before being able to execute their tasks
• Number of Cancelled Projects: This shows how many projects were canceled in a given period of time 
• Number of Change Requests: This shows how many times the service provider had to sign change orders on a project
• Billable Utilization: This shows how much billable time was spent on the project versus non-billable time

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Other Project Management KPIs

It’s important to note that there are so many different types of projects and so many KPIs that can be tracked.

Although I have covered some of the key project management KPIs, here are a few other KPIs that may be relevant for your project:

• Return on Investment
• Schedule Performance Index 
• Number of unresolved issues
• Current development backlog
• Number of issues found internally
• Number of issues found by client
• Order fulfillment cycle time
• Project schedule variance 
• Project cost variance 
• Earned Value Metric
• First Contact Resolution
• 360-degree feedback
• Cost of managing processes 
• Shifts in budget

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How To Set Project Management KPIs

Setting the right KPIs for the project is key to ensuring that you measure performance and track the overall success of your project.

Here are a few tips for you to set and track the right key performance indicators for your project.

First, make sure that your KPIs are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound (this is referred to as SMART KPIs).

It’s important to speak with different project stakeholders to assess what success means for them on the project so you can ultimately establish the right KPIs.

You should also set KPIs that are actually useful.

It may be tempting to measure KPIs for the sake of measuring something but it may not be that useful or helpful in managing your project.

Then, once you have set your KPIs and have properly verbalized it with your teams, make sure that you regularly track them.

It’s important for the team to see what was planned, where they are, and what needs to be done so they can course-correct as the project advances.

Another important tip is to make sure that if you are tracking KPIs and getting intelligence about the state of the project to be sure to keep the project on the right path.

At times, it may not be easy to act but you will need to keep the team focused on the overall project goals and targets.

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Takeaways 

So there you have it folks!

What are the most important project management KPIs?

There are so many KPIs that companies and service providers can track to assess the overall performance of their projects.

In this article, I have presented 43 different project management KPIs that can help you better track your project and help you succeed.

It’s important that you take the time to set the right KPIs so that you track what’s useful, have the ability to measure the KPIs as the project is ongoing, and see how well you have done on the project.

Now that you know the main KPIs for project managers, good luck with your research!

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