Developing Project Metrics

The purpose of this worksheet is to draw out the best method(s) to measure the progress of your project. There are three sections to this worksheet:

1. Developing project goals
2. Identifying your goal measurement methods, and
3. Identifying milestones.

Understanding the purpose of your project.

Answer the questions below to flesh out the purpose and trajectory of your project.

Setting Project Goals

Read through your answers above. Look for themes and concrete statements that describe the work you will be doing. Use the template below to develop at least 3 to 5 goals that reflect your answers above. Goals should be measurable, connected to a time frame, and be specific. Here are a few examples:

Goal 1: The Detroit Community Technology Project will develop at least 15 community technologists through a community training in the summer of 2015 that will go on to build a 15 node mesh network in 4 neighborhoods.

Goal 2: The Detroit Community Technology Project will hold 3 community workshops in the East, West and Southwest regions of the city about community wireless in the Fall of 2015 that will teach people basic tech skills while simultaneously recruiting volunteers and people to participate in housing mesh routers.

Now define 3 to 5 goals for your project. Use the color coding to identify what is measurable, the time frame, and the specific details of your goal.

Identifying goal measurement methods

There are several ways you can measure goals. What you are measuring will determine how to collect the data you need. If you are doing a training and want to measure how well you transferred skills and how many people you trained - in order to better understand your teaching methods, you may want to track attendance and do a pre and post skills assessment. If your goals are less about numbers and more about self transformation or relationship building you may want to collect testimonials by creating surveys that allow people to share their stories rather than circle “yes” or “no”.

Here are a few examples of measurement tools you may want to try:

• Pre- and Post-test
• Surveys
• Transcribed conversations
• Attendance to events or workshops
• Written Reflections

The questions below will help you draw out what approach will work best for each goal.

Identifying milestones

Milestones can be events, the completion of lesson plans, specific meetings, the completion of a flyer design, the completion of a website, installation of equipment, or a decision that needed to be made that will impact the future of the program - or any other important progress made on the project

Using the goals you developed for your project, identify milestones or specified points in your project that will lead you closer to reaching your goals.

*Note you should have at least 1 milestone per month of your project.

[ Google Docs Worksheet HERE ]