Performance Standards

The performance standards are essentially ‘targets’ based on the final project objectives, the dimensions of performance, the performance indicators and their associated performance criteria.  
In many projects these ‘standards’ will have been specified at the application stage. However, there may well be dimensions of performance identified as important, which will not form part of the contracted deliverables. For example, increased confidence in students or trainees team development, improvements in efficiency may not be core objectives but nevertheless, are important. In other cases there may be standards imposed by funding bodies, internal management, national agencies, external validating organisations or it may be for the project team or the evaluator to decide.
Standards may be expressed in ‘absolute’ terms – that is `achieved’ or ‘not achieved’ (as in criteria referencing or in normative terms (as in ‘above’ or `below’ the average or rank ordered) or in ipsitive terms (as in development ‘milestones’). They may give the tolerance limits, for example, recognising partial achievement or specifying exceptions or allowable reasons for ‘non achievement’. Quality thresholds may be introduced, below which performance is `unacceptable’ and above which it is graded or ranked.

Example 1

The objective of a project is `to create a web site’ and the dimension of performance to be evaluated is `the usefulness of the site’.  One of the performance indicators may be ‘number of repeat hits’, the performance criteria `for more than two minutes’ and the performance standard defines the target as, for example “minimum of 3 per day” or “1000 over the project life cycle” or “average of 500 per month’’.

Example 2

On some projects one of the dimensions maybe effectiveness of the transnational dimension and one performance indicator may be the number of meetings between partners.
Do these meetings have to be live or can they be via ICT links? Do a minimum number of partners have to be present at the meetings for it to be counted as a meeting? Does the meeting have to have a formal agenda with minutes or do informal meetings count? Does the meeting have to be of a minimum duration? (Depending on the answers to these questions, a one-minute phone call between 2 partners could count as a meeting?)
The criteria could be `any face-to-face or remote meeting involving at least two partners from different member states with a formal agenda and written output’ and the standard could be `at least one each quarter’