101 Project Management Problems and How to Solve Them

68. How can I avoid having contributors game their status metrics?

Reliable project measurement is fundamental to effective tracking and monitoring. If the information you collect is flawed, you won’t know what is happening, so you must establish an environment that encourages honest reporting and set up measures that align well with project objectives.

Establishing a Safe Reporting Environment

“Gaming” of metrics is what happens when people find ways to avoid providing information that reflects what is actually happening. When project metrics are gamed, you are working with flawed data. The most common root causes for inaccurate metrics relate to how they are used. When metrics are primarily used to detect and solve problems, people support ...