Project Metrics and Dashboard Management Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Project Managers, PMO Managers and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 9 Nov 2026 Course code SD-PM-077

Before you join: Participants should understand the basic project lifecycle and have worked with project plans, status reports, RAID logs, budgets or schedules.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Project leaders and PMO teams can collect large volumes of schedule, cost, risk and resource data yet still struggle to explain whether delivery is under control. Weak metric definitions, inconsistent sources, arbitrary red-amber-green thresholds and crowded dashboards create delayed decisions and disputes over the facts. This course addresses the practical work of selecting measures that answer management questions, setting valid targets and presenting exceptions that require action.

Participants build a measurement architecture linking project objectives, stakeholder questions, KPIs, data sources, ownership, reporting cadence and escalation rules. The course covers leading and lagging indicators, Goal-Question-Metric chains, metric dictionaries, baselines, tolerance bands, trend analysis, Earned Value Management, risk and quality measures, data quality controls and portfolio reporting. Participants also learn to design dashboard views for executives, project managers and delivery teams without masking material variance or false precision.

Instructor-led briefings are combined with realistic project reporting cases, dashboard critiques, data interpretation tasks, group design work and application planning. Cases reflect capital projects, technology change, public programmes and regulated service delivery. Participants leave with a reusable project metrics and dashboard operating pack containing KPI specifications, dashboard wireframes, reporting calendars, escalation rules and a 90-day implementation plan. The course is available in classrooms in 50+ cities or live online, runs for five days from 08:30 to 16:30, and includes approximately 32.5 contact hours and a certificate of completion.

This course suits professionals who already contribute to project reporting and now need to improve the quality, credibility and decision value of project measures.

What you will be able to do

  • Design a decision-focused project measurement architecture using stakeholder questions and metric ownership
  • Write KPI specifications using Goal-Question-Metric chains, SMART criteria and metric dictionaries
  • Set baselines, targets, tolerances and red-amber-green thresholds for project controls
  • Calculate and interpret Earned Value Management measures, forecasts and performance indices
  • Define risk, quality, resource and benefits metrics linked to delivery decisions
  • Assess project data quality using validation rules, lineage records and source-system mapping
  • Create dashboard wireframes using visual encoding, information hierarchy and exception-based reporting
  • Produce a 90-day dashboard implementation plan with governance, cadence and adoption measures

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Build KPI definitions that withstand challenge from sponsors, finance teams and delivery leads
  • Interpret cost and schedule variance before it becomes a late-stage reporting issue
  • Create dashboard views that direct management attention to decisions and corrective actions
  • Improve credibility when explaining project health, forecasts and material exceptions
  • Apply a structured 90-day plan to improve reporting on an active project

For your organisation

  • Earlier identification of schedule, cost, resource and risk exceptions
  • Consistent project measures across PMO, programme and delivery teams
  • Less meeting time spent reconciling conflicting figures and unclear status reports
  • Clearer escalation routes for tolerances, decisions and accountable actions
  • More reliable portfolio comparisons for investment, capacity and intervention decisions

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can define a measurement architecture that connects project decisions, metrics, ownership and action.

  • Decision-focused metric architecture linking sponsor questions, measures, thresholds and actions
  • PMBOK measurement domains translated into information needs and reporting decisions
  • Leading, lagging, diagnostic and predictive indicators distinguished by decision use
  • Metric dictionaries specifying formula, owner, source, frequency and interpretation
  • Measure selection using decision value, controllability, timeliness and data cost
  • Anti-patterns: vanity metrics, duplicate measures and unowned indicators

Participants can create measurable KPIs that reflect project objectives and management questions.

  • Goal-Question-Metric chains convert stakeholder objectives into testable measurement questions
  • SMART KPI statements define intended result, unit, owner and period
  • Outcome, output, efficiency and compliance measures matched to project objectives
  • Balanced scorecard perspectives adapted for project sponsor and delivery needs
  • Driver trees expose assumptions between activities, intermediate results and benefits
  • Indicator specifications distinguish measures, targets, tolerances, triggers and actions

Participants can establish meaningful baselines, target ranges and escalation thresholds for project measures.

  • Baseline control separates approved plans, current forecasts and actual performance
  • Target-setting methods use historical variance, contractual commitments and capacity constraints
  • RAG threshold bands designed with escalation rules and decision authority
  • Tolerance ranges align with sponsor appetite, contingency and management reserve
  • Trend lines, control charts and run charts reveal meaningful variation
  • Forecast accuracy measured through bias, mean absolute error and variance

Participants can calculate and explain schedule and cost performance using established project controls methods.

  • Work breakdown structures connect control accounts, work packages and metrics
  • Planned value, earned value and actual cost calculated consistently
  • Schedule performance index and cost performance index interpreted cautiously
  • Estimate at completion methods selected for different performance assumptions
  • Critical path slippage separated from noncritical delay and recovery activity
  • Milestone trend analysis communicates movement, causes and corrective decisions

Participants can select project control measures beyond schedule and cost performance.

  • Risk exposure metrics combine probability, impact, proximity and response status
  • Risk burndown charts track residual exposure against planned treatment dates
  • Quality indicators use defect density, first-pass yield and rework rates
  • Resource metrics distinguish utilisation, allocation, availability and workload volatility
  • Benefits realisation measures trace outputs to outcomes and accountable owners
  • Root-cause analysis uses five whys, Pareto charts and fishbone diagrams

Participants can establish controls that make project dashboard data traceable and trustworthy.

  • Data ownership assigns accountability for definitions, collection, validation and approval
  • Source-system mapping identifies authoritative records, extracts and manual inputs
  • Data quality dimensions assess completeness, accuracy, timeliness, consistency and uniqueness
  • Validation rules detect missing values, duplicates, outliers and stale updates
  • Metric lineage documents transformations from source fields to dashboard visuals
  • Access controls protect sensitive cost, resource and commercial information

Participants can design dashboard views that make project performance and exceptions easy to interpret.

  • Dashboard wireframes organise executive, manager and team views by decisions
  • Visual encoding selects charts according to comparison, trend, composition and distribution
  • Exception-based design directs attention toward breaches, changes and required actions
  • Colour, labels and annotations meet accessibility and interpretation requirements
  • Drill-down paths connect portfolio signals to project-level evidence
  • Information hierarchy limits visual clutter and preserves critical context

Participants can operate a reporting process that turns measures into timely management action.

  • Reporting calendars align data cut-off, validation, review and governance meetings
  • Status narratives pair metric movement with cause, impact, action and owner
  • Escalation protocols define thresholds, response times, decision rights and evidence
  • RAID logs reconcile risks, assumptions, issues and dependencies with dashboard signals
  • Management by exception focuses meeting time on decisions needing intervention
  • Action trackers record commitments, due dates, status and verification evidence

Participants can aggregate project information into useful portfolio and executive reporting views.

  • Portfolio scorecards compare delivery health, strategic fit, risk and benefits
  • Project segmentation separates mandatory, growth, transformation and maintenance investments
  • Capacity-demand views expose bottlenecks, contention and sequencing choices
  • Benefits maps connect project metrics to programme and organisational outcomes
  • Aggregation rules prevent misleading averages, double counting and false precision
  • Executive briefing packs frame trade-offs, recommendations and decisions required

Participants can plan the adoption, review and improvement of a project metrics and dashboard process.

  • Metric maturity assessment identifies gaps in definitions, data, cadence and use
  • Stakeholder mapping assigns dashboard consumers, information needs and decision responsibilities
  • 90-day implementation plans sequence metric changes, owners, dependencies and milestones
  • Pilot criteria select a project with usable data and decision demand
  • Adoption measures monitor dashboard usage, meeting quality and action closure
  • Review routines refresh metrics when scope, risk or strategy changes

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Project metric architecture template
  2. KPI specification and metric dictionary template
  3. Baseline, target and tolerance-setting model
  4. Project dashboard wireframe set
  5. Reporting cadence and escalation checklist
  6. 90-day dashboard implementation plan

Who should attend

  • Project Managers — need credible measures for delivery control and sponsor reporting
  • PMO Managers — need consistent KPI definitions, reporting standards and portfolio views
  • Programme Managers — need to compare project health, dependencies, capacity and benefits
  • Project Controls Specialists — need to connect cost, schedule and risk data to decisions
  • Business Analysts — need to define measures, data sources and dashboard requirements
  • Operational Excellence Managers — need project reporting that drives corrective action

Skills and tools covered

KPI designEarned value analysisDashboard designData governancePerformance forecastingPortfolio reporting

Tools and standards

PMI PMBOK® Guide, Earned Value Management (EVM), Goal-Question-Metric (GQM) framework, SMART criteria

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings to introduce methods, followed by project cases, metric-definition work, dashboard reviews, group analysis and reporting simulations. Participants examine realistic status data, calculate selected performance measures, identify misleading visualisations and define escalation responses. Facilitated discussion tests the decision value of each measure for sponsors, project managers and PMO leaders. Application planning converts course outputs into a practical reporting improvement plan for a current or anticipated project.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should understand the basic project lifecycle and have worked with project plans, status reports, RAID logs, budgets or schedules. Familiarity with common terms such as milestone, baseline, variance, risk and stakeholder is assumed. Experience using spreadsheets or a reporting tool is helpful because participants will interpret tables, trends and dashboard examples. This is an intermediate course, so it does not teach project management fundamentals from the beginning. Prior experience with Earned Value Management, business intelligence software, statistical analysis or coding is not required.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

Participants should have basic project delivery knowledge and some exposure to plans, reports, budgets, schedules or RAID logs. No prior expertise in Earned Value Management, data visualisation software or statistics is required.

Bring examples of current project reports, KPI lists or dashboard screenshots if organisational policy permits. These materials are useful reference points for the application planning work, but they are not mandatory.

It is intended for project managers, PMO professionals, programme managers, project controls staff, business analysts and operational improvement leaders. It is most useful for people responsible for producing, reviewing or acting on project performance information.

General project management courses cover planning, scope, stakeholder management and delivery methods more broadly. This course concentrates on the measurement, interpretation, reporting and governance needed to control delivery through reliable evidence.

Participants can use the metric dictionary, dashboard wireframe and escalation checklist to review an existing report or build a new one. The final module produces a 90-day plan for introducing selected improvements with defined owners and milestones.

The course runs from 08:30 to 16:30 each day and provides approximately 32.5 contact hours. Time is divided across ten teaching modules, with briefings, case analysis, group work, simulations and individual application planning.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

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