Question

You are managing a traditional/waterfall project. Your team defined the project metrics, which are on-time, within budget and meeting requirements. The project is continuing and you are doing quite well; remaining on-time, within budget, and meeting requirements. The project is two weeks away from completion and the end product just failed its first quality inspection. Explain how metrics, baselining, and measurements could have helped avoid this from occurring.

Answer 1

The problem in the scenario is based on testing problems. In other words, the delay in the project is due to the failure of the first inspection. Testing is basically divided into two groups namely general testing problems and test-type specific problems. General testing problems refer to the fact that there are no specific tests but one single test is applied to all different types of tests. Test-type specific problems refer to that there are specific single types of testing such as unit testing or system testing.

In the given scenario, there is no specific planning or schedule for the testing phase. The planning documents might have just incomplete and superficial details about testing. Additionally, the testers would have assumed that the product would ‘work’. This assumption was the cause of the problem. The assumption was proved wrong when the product failed in the testing phase. In fact, the testing phase is used here to demonstrate that the product works rather than determine if it is functionally ready for the project. It is in this phase that metrics play a key role. Metrics is the measurement of the key factors that are necessary for the product to be successful. Examples of metrics include- quality, risk, etc. Measurement is highly essential for the success of project management. Measurement and analyzing KPI (Key Performance Indicators) play vital role in the success of projects. If there had been adequate KPIs in place for measuring the key factors for product’s functionality and the testing plan is designed, then the project plan would have included adequate time for second phase of testing to ensure that key metrics or KPIs are met. This would have eventually avoided any delay in the project.

Baseline is a key factor in a project’s planning. As the name indicates, baseline is used as the reference point or benchmark to measure the progress of the project. This helps the project manager to analyze the performance of the project. A project has three main components such as cost, schedule and the project’s scope. For example, in the given scenario, if the project in the scenario was planned to be finished within 8 weeks, then there is a delay, baseline helps to assess where the project was delayed (in terms of schedule) and how this delay would impact the cost. Hence, baseline is used in project planning as it improves the efficiency of the planning phase. In the given scenario, baseline could have been used to determine how the testing schedule would delay the project and what impact it would have on cost terms.

Thus, it is pertinent to say that metrics, measurement and baseline are integral factors for a project’s success.

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