Level 3

List of Metrics

Every organization we have ever assisted with process improvement efforts has always asked: "What metrics should we collect?" Well, once again, define your metrics to your business needs and the problems you face. Having said that, most executives and managers still want and need examples. So here they are.

The metrics listed are arranged according to the Maturity Levels and Process Areas (PAs) in the CMMI. We have tried to present metrics that might be found more commonly, and used more effectively, at certain stages of organizational sophistication. However, just because a metric appears in a process area at Level 3, and you are just trying to reach Level 2, if that metric will help you, then use it. This list is arranged somewhat arbitrarily. Some readers will say, "Hey, that metric goes better in a different process area (process area X)." That is OK because this list is just to get you thinking about measurements that can be of help to you and your organization.

These metrics are by no means the only measurements to collect in an organization. They are simply representative of those measures we have found collected the most frequently. We used the Directing Implementation Common Feature of the CMMI as the basis for these metrics, supplemented by metrics our clients have used in their own organizations. You should also note that most of the organizations we have assisted in their process improvement efforts and in their metrics programs began by reviewing the metrics documented in the CMM and CMMI, and then decided whether or not these metrics would work for them.

For the most part, this list represents base measures to collect. Base measures are simple values of some attribute; for example, the size of a document in pages or the effort to produce a document in hours. To get value from your measurement, you will most likely want to compare actuals to planned, and to produce derived measures from your base measures. Derived measures are a function of two or more base measures; for example, productivity in hours per page to produce a document.