Strategic

Speed, accuracy, and volume are important indicators of project performance and are similar because they are indicators of how a projects performance can be evaluated irrespective of the timeframe and budget. Each also can be applied to a large range of projects and allow benchmarks to be established that represent the performance a project leader expects. Benchmarks should always be SMART (Specific, measurable, assignable, realistic, and time-oriented). Speed, accuracy, and volume are specific, measureable, and assignable because they are indicators that can be gauged, and someone can be accountable and responsible for his success (Performance Measurement in Project Management, 2007).

Differences exist in these three measurements and the way they are quantified. One difference is in the type of measurements. Speed represents a rate, such as miles per hour. Volume represents a number such as number of attendees, and accuracy is whether something goes according to plan such as a wedding. Accuracy can relate to quality of a finished product and in that case another performance measure may be more appropriate (Performance Measurement in Project Management, 2007).

Many methods can be used to measure project performance. Earned Value Management analyzes scope, cost, and schedule throughout the lifecycle of the project. It provides accurate forecasts and performance problems. PERT charts show a projects schedule, sequence of tasks to be performed at the same time and the critical path that must be completed in order for the project to meet the deadline. Gantt charts are useful in analyzing and planning complex projects. They help to plan out tasks that need to be completed, provide a basis for scheduling when the tasks can be carried out, allow planning the allocation of resources needed, and help with the critical path when a project must be completed by a specific date (Moore, 2011).

A Gantt chart is a bar chart that shows the time it takes for a task to be...