What Is Performance Measurement?
Performance measurement refers to measures that characterize physical or functional attributes relating to system operation — more broadly, the practice of quantifying how a project is progressing against plans, baselines and intended outcomes.
In Practice
Effective performance measurement selects a few meaningful indicators (schedule, cost, scope, quality, value) and compares actuals to a baseline or target. Techniques include earned value, burn charts and cumulative flow diagrams, usually surfaced on a dashboard. The aim is timely, honest signals that drive decisions — while avoiding vanity metrics that look good but reveal nothing.
PMBOK 8 Context
Performance measurement is the heart of the Measurement performance domain in the PMBOK Guide, 8th Edition, supporting evidence-based decisions and the principle of focusing on value. See also variance at completion.
FAQ
What makes a good measure? It is relevant to a decision, hard to game, and tied to an outcome rather than mere activity.
What is a vanity metric? A measure that appears to show a result but provides no actionable insight.
Author: Tom, PMP-certified since 2004. Last updated: July 2026. Aligned with the PMBOK Guide, 8th Edition.