Process Performance Model

Event Level Measurement

One of the things that people often overlook in high-maturity measurement is the level of detail they want in their measures. Relating measures to events will give them this detail. An event level measure is a measure taken at the completion of an event; for example, the definition of a requirement, implementation of an interface, performance of an inspection, or execution of a test. Most organizations initially collect total hours at the phase level, that is, total hours in the Requirements phase, and therefore can only monitor and control at the phase level. This means that only at the end of the requirements phase can they see how they have done. With measures taken at the event level, more detailed monitoring and controlling can be done, and data can be used to manage throughout the phase. One does not have to wait until the end of the phase. One can adjust predictions within a phase at the completion of each event, in some cases, and take corrective actions, as appropriate. In addition, event level measures can be used within different life cycles. For example, the event of defining a requirement is the same within a waterfall life cycle or within most iterative life cycles.

Examples of event level measures are shown in Exhibit 2. The table is divided into three potential objectives that an organization may consider important to meet its business goals. Those objectives are productivity, product quality, and schedule. The second column identifies some potential events of interest; for example, Requirement (defined), which would indicate that an individual requirement was defined. The third column identifies measures that would be collected and identified that relate to the event. In the case of Requirement (defined), the hours for the task and the complexity of the requirement (complex, nominal, or simple) are noted.

Exhibit 2: Example Event Level Measures

Objective	Event	Measures
Productivity	Requirement (defined)	Hours, complexity
	Requirement (designed)	Hours, complexity
	Interface Implemented	Hours
	Object Coded	Hours
	Subsystem Integrated	Hours
	Test Scenario Executed	Hours
Product Quality	Design Review (completed)	Defects, pages, hours
	Inspection (completed)	Defects, lines, hours
	Test Scenario Executed	Defects, Hours, Coverage
Schedule	Task Completion	Days (number late or early)