Guessing is not a strategy: How to build decision velocity with AI and real-time data
June 10, 2026 | Live Webinar
PPM 101: Making Metrics
Tom Mochal, PgMP, PMP, TSPM is the president of TenStep, Inc., a methodology development, consulting and training company. Tom won the Distinguished Contribution Award from the Project Management Institute for his work spreading knowledge of project management around the world. He is a speaker, lecturer, instructor and consultant to companies and organizations around the world.
Projects come and go, but portfolios remain — all the more reason to establish and sustain a value metrics program. A key is to stop insisting on “perfect” metrics, and simply get into the habit of measuring, collecting and refining a variety of data.
Done right, project portfolio management can do a lot of good for any organization. But it’s not easy, as many companies, large and small, have discovered. In PPM 101, an ongoing series by veteran project management consultant and author Tom Mochal, we focus on the fundamentals for organizations that are just getting started on the PPM path.
One of greatest challenges in measuring project value is that it is difficult to get the processes established and ingrained into an organization’s culture. All organizations would like to capture the business value of projects, but few actually do it. One common reason is that the project team is disbanded after implementation, so no one is left to track the expected benefits. In fact, it is the sponsor’s job to make sure that the business benefits of the project are achieved. However, many lack the sophistication and skills needed to define and collect the appropriate business metrics.
The project work portfolio, on the other hand, is an organizational entity. Even though projects still start and end, the portfolio remains. This makes the portfolio an …
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"Life is but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard of no more. It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing." - William Shakespeare |