Project Tracking Tools

Project tracking tools are important because Six Sigma is based on projects. Find a problem, define it, measure it, analyze it, fix it, and then ensure the solution ‘sticks.’ If any single phase goes wrong, so does the whole project. Therefore, keeping your projects on track is a crucial part of Six Sigma methodology.

One of the most common problems occurs in the ‘Implementation’ (or ‘fix’) stage of a DMAIC project. Progress lags behind the expected timeline, but no one notices. When they do notice, the project timeline has blown out, and people are unhappy.

So: How do we stop projects from going over their deadlines? This is where project tracking tools come into play. They won’t, in and of themselves, stop a project from lagging. What they will do, though, is offer up a warning flag when it starts to slip. Early detection is important because it allows you to make more strategic choices. You might trim the requirements. Or you might cut the project in half and set up another project for the second half. Alternatively, you could hire more people or talk to the CXOs about changing the timeline.

Tools We’ll Look at

This article will focus on four main project tracking tools that can make a big difference to your project management success. We’ll look at the following:

• Gantt chart
• Project responsibility matrix
• Tracking reporting and corrective action system
• Project priority matrix.

You and your team can use these tools, separately or together, to improve your understanding of your project’s roles, progress, and priorities.

Manual Tracking vs. Online Tracking

These days, you have an absolute plethora of options open to you. Cloud-based project tracking tools abound. However, there are some pros and cons to weigh up before you decide how to track your project.

Online project tracking tools

Several online project management sites will offer you a combination of the tools we’ll discuss. However, they come with a few issues that might not be obvious upfront.

Manual project tracking tools

Conversely, manual tools have their good and bad points.

Gantt Chart

Gantt charts are named after their (possible) inventor, Henry Gantt. They’ve been around since the 1910s in varying forms.

A Gantt chart tells you:

• The tasks required for the current project.
• How long you expect the project to take.
• How long you expect each task to take.
• When you expect each task to start.
• Any dependencies: in other words, any tasks that have to be completed before others can be started.

Project Responsibility Matrix

Project success depends a lot on everyone understanding who is responsible for what. This might seem obvious, but many projects go ahead without clarification. And that can cause huge problems in a project. After all, if no one knows what they should be doing, is anyone doing what they should?

A project responsibility matrix–also commonly known as a responsibility assignment matrix–maps people against specific tasks.

RACI matrix

This is the type that most people are talking about when they mention project responsibility matrices. There are four levels of involvement:

• Responsible: Performing the task.
• Accountable: Ensuring the task is completed to an acceptable standard.
• Consulted: Available for help and advice on the task.
• Informed: Wants or needs information about the progress of the task.

RAC matrix

A RAC matrix is an earlier variant of the responsibility matrix. It has only three levels of involvement:

• Responsible: Performing the task and/or ensuring that the task is completed successfully.
• Contributes: Assisting in the task.
• Advises: Offering expertise where needed.

RASCI matrix

The RASCI matrix is yet another variation based on the RACI matrix. This model uses the same roles as the RACI matrix but adds the Supporting role. So you end up with five:

• Responsible: Performing the task.
• Supporting: Assisting the Responsible role to complete the task. Typically a junior level role.
• Accountable: Ensuring the task is completed to an acceptable standard.
• Consulted: Available for help and advice on the task.
• Informed: Wants or needs information about the progress of the task.

RAPID matrix

The RAPID matrix focuses more on lower-level project planning responsibilities.

As you’ve probably figured out, this matrix has five roles:

• Recommend: Researches options and offers suggestions on how the work should be completed.
• Agree: Helps the recommender to collate options and develop a proposal.
• Perform: Implements the decision once it’s made.
• Input: Offers advice and subject matter expertise.
• Decide: Makes the final decision on how the project will be worked on.

Tracking Reporting and Corrective Action System (TRaCAS)

See Tracking Reporting and Corrective Action System (TRaCAS) details

Project Priority Matrix

A project priority matrix is a project planning tool that helps your team to figure out where to put their strongest efforts.

Time/performance/cost matrix

This very simple version maps three basic competing priorities in any project:

• Time: How long the project will run.
• Performance (or scope): How many features, or the level of quality, in the project.
• Cost: How much the project will cost the company; or how much the end product will cost the consumer.

Impact/urgency mapping

You can use this type of matrix to map how much effect a task or feature will have against its time sensitivity. These two aspects of ‘important’ often get conflated, so deliberately separating them can be very beneficial to a project.

Impact/effort mapping

This type of project priority matrix is similar to the previous one, except urgency is switched out with effort. This can help a team to pick the low-hanging fruit first – a useful strategy for new teams, or ones that are in need of a morale boost.

Scoring and weighting

A more complex variety of matrix is often used to prioritize projects or features/tasks within a project. In this sort of matrix, you use criteria and weightings to create scores for each competing feature, task, or project.

This type of matrix can be helpful in more complicated projects. You also might find it useful where emotions are running high or particular features are being championed by different stakeholders. Assigning weightings and scores help to move the focus from subjective to objective.

See Project Priority Matrix details.