Metric

What Is a Metric?

A metric is a description of a project or product attribute and how to measure it. Metrics turn something you care about — progress, quality, value — into a number you can track over time.

In Practice

A useful metric defines what is measured, the unit, and how it is calculated, so results are consistent and comparable. Teams choose a small set of metrics tied to decisions and outcomes, compare them to a baseline or target, and display them on a dashboard. The danger is measuring what is easy rather than what matters — producing vanity metrics that look good but guide nothing.

PMBOK 8 Context

Metrics are the building blocks of the Measurement performance domain in the PMBOK Guide, 8th Edition. Good metrics enable performance measurement and evidence-based decisions.

FAQ

Metric vs. KPI? A KPI (key performance indicator) is a metric selected as especially important for judging success.

How many metrics should a project track? Few — enough to inform decisions, not so many that signal is lost in noise.

Author: Tom, PMP-certified since 2004. Last updated: July 2026. Aligned with the PMBOK Guide, 8th Edition.

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