Metrics Plan

A Metrics Plan describes how an organization intends to establish, implement, fund, collect, analyze, and report metrics. A Metrics Plan:

• Ensures that the correct metrics are collected
• Ensures that metric analysis and reporting meet all stakeholder needs
• Ensures that adequate and appropriate resources (e.g., funding, personnel, tools) are available to properly perform metrics implementation, collection, and ongoing support.
• Ensures that appropriate change management activities are undertaken

This is one of those that can be done at several levels, and it usually has several cuts, from a top-level strategic document to the process owner level to potentially deeper cuts lower in the organization. I am a big fan of each process owner owning their parts and it passing up.

This plan is a critical feed-in to quality management review.

A typical structure of a Metrics plan includes:

• Strategy
  • Rationale and Desired Outcomes
  • Metrics Framework
  • Success Criteria
• Implementation Plan
  • Steps, Timelines & Milestones
  • Resources
  • Governance
  • Communication
  • Training
• Specific Metrics
  • Outcome Mapping
  • Outcome Action Plan
  • ROI Evaluation
  • Routine Analysis & Improvement Evaluation
  • Retirement Plan
• Data Collection
  • Data Sources
  • Data Flow
  • Resources
  • Reconciliation
• System & Technology
  • Data Visualization
  • Support
• Communication Plan
• Sustainability Plan