Process Performance Indicators: metrics, dimensions and the control chart

You redesigned the process. But did it actually get better? Without measuring, “it improved” is just an opinion. This is Phase 5 of the BPM lifecycle — measure success: defining metrics and indicators that prove, with a number, that the process delivers value. In this guide, based on the BPM CBOK, you will see the difference between a metric and an indicator, the four dimensions, the control chart and earned value.

1. What does measuring a process’s performance mean?

Performance measurement is the formal, planned monitoring of the process’s execution and results, in order to determine its effectiveness (is it doing the right thing?) and its efficiency (with the fewest resources?). The CBOK principle is direct: every process must have at least one indicator — without one, management turns into subjectivity and slow decisions.

2. Measurement, metric and indicator

• Measurement — the act of measuring (quantifying).
• Metric — the quantitative measure, the value itself (“the reimbursement took 6 days”).
• Indicator — the metric interpreted against a target (the green/amber/red “traffic light”).

In one sentence: a metric is the number; an indicator is the number with a traffic light.

3. The four fundamental dimensions

Almost every process metric falls into one of these four dimensions:

• Time — how long it takes (reimbursement turnaround, request → paid).
• Cost — how much it consumes (cost per reimbursement: checking hours, rework).
• Capacity — how much it can produce (reimbursements processed per month).
• Quality — how well (% of reimbursements without error, employee satisfaction).

Measure first what affects value for the Customer — what they would be willing to pay for.

And measure the four together. What you measure, people optimize — including what you did not want. If you only measure the speed of the reimbursement, someone will approve without checking properly in order to go faster.

4. Control chart: is the process predictable?

The control chart shows how the process behaves over time and whether it is stable. It has a mean and control limits. The process is out of control when a point crosses a limit, or when seven consecutive points fall on the same side of the mean (the rule of seven) — a sign of a special cause (something changed), not of normal variation. Do not confuse a control limit (how the process behaves) with a specification limit (what the Customer requires).

5. Project indicators: Earned Value (EVM)

When the change becomes a project, we measure with Earned Value Management: PV (Planned Value — what I budgeted to spend), AC (Actual Cost — what I spent) and EV (Earned Value — what I budgeted for what I actually did). From these come CPI = EV/AC (cost) and SPI = EV/PV (schedule): above 1 is good, below is bad. See the detail in the article on Earned Value Management.

6. Measuring every day with AI (the guardian)

In BPM Together, measurement does not depend on you opening a spreadsheet every week: a guardian (a scheduled script) reads the data sources, calculates the indicators and the AI proposes the interpretation (“reimbursement turnaround rose 18% — likely special cause: the end-of-quarter expense peak”). You decide the action.

7. Frequently asked questions

How many indicators should I have?

Start with four — one per dimension (time, cost, capacity, quality). Nobody follows an excess of indicators.

What is the difference between a metric and a target?

“6 days” is the metric (the measured value); “≤ 5 days” is the target, which becomes the indicator’s traffic light.

What is the rule of seven?

Seven consecutive points on the same side of the mean in the control chart indicate a special cause — something changed in the process.

Do I need EVM on my process?

EVM measures the project that implements the change. For the process in operation, focus on the four dimensions.

What if an indicator has no data source?

Then it does not exist. Define the source before the target — and prefer data that already exists (for example, the card dates in ProjectAdm).

Conclusion and next steps

Now you know how to measure: separate metric from indicator, cover the four dimensions, read the control chart and use EVM on the project. The next step is to close the cycle with transformation and technology — the subject of Lesson 7. Answer the quiz below; it counts towards your BPM Together Certificate.

References

ABPMP. BPM CBOK — Guide to the Business Process Management Common Body of Knowledge, version 4.0. · MONTES, E. Earned Value Management, Escritório de Projetos.

Content based on the BPM CBOK 4.0 (ABPMP) and on the practical experience of Escritório de Projetos. This is an independent practitioner’s guide: it is not an official ABPMP publication and has not been endorsed by the association.