The OTR GroupWhy a rating scale needs a shared meaning
Most project reports carry a Red, Amber or Green rating, and most readers assume everyone means the same thing by them. They rarely do. One manager's Amber is "all fine, just keeping an eye on it"; another's is "we need help". When the meaning is not agreed, the colour tells the reader very little.
The Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA), the UK government's centre of expertise for infrastructure and major projects, publishes a guide for its assurance review teams called Project Assurance Reviews: Delivery Confidence Guide for Review Teams. It sets out in plain words what each delivery confidence rating means. It was written for government reviews, but its wording makes a handy yardstick for any project.
The five levels in the IPA's guide
The guide defines Red, Amber and Green, and says Amber/Red and Amber/Green can be used for a status that sits in between. In summary:
- Green: successful delivery to time, cost and quality appears highly likely, with no major outstanding issues that appear to threaten delivery.
- Amber/Green: successful delivery appears probable, but constant attention is needed to make sure risks do not become major issues.
- Amber: successful delivery appears feasible, but significant issues already exist and need management attention. They appear resolvable at this stage and, if addressed promptly, should not cause a cost or schedule overrun.
- Amber/Red: successful delivery is in doubt, with major risks or issues apparent in a number of key areas. Urgent action is needed.
- Red: successful delivery appears unachievable, with major issues that do not appear manageable or resolvable. The project may need rebaselining or its overall viability reassessed.
What the wording tells you
Look at what separates the levels. It is not a feeling; it is evidence. Green talks about the absence of major outstanding issues. Amber says significant issues already exist. Amber/Red says major risks or issues are apparent in a number of key areas. Each step up in concern describes how serious the problems are, how widespread they are, and whether they can still be resolved.
The guide also makes clear that the assessment "is not a calculation". It is a considered judgement, and review teams are not expected to record a separate score for every element they look at.
Borrowing the idea for your own reports
The IPA guide is written for assurance reviews, so none of the following is an IPA requirement. It is simply how the idea can be put to work in a team status report:
- Print the definitions. Put a one-line meaning for each colour at the top of the report so every reader starts from the same place.
- Give a reason with every rating. One sentence on why it is Amber is worth more than the colour itself.
- Attach an owner to every Amber. The IPA wording says prompt action is what keeps an Amber from turning into an overrun. Name who is acting and by when.
- Agree who can change a rating. If only the project manager can move it, it may lag the truth.
- Compare with last time. A rating that has not moved for months deserves a second look in either direction.
Common traps
- Amber as a parking space. If nobody is acting, it is not really Amber in the IPA sense; the definition assumes management attention.
- One colour for everything. The IPA wording refers to time, cost and quality together. If one of them is driving the rating, say which.
- Ratings that only change at the last minute. Using the in-between levels gives you a way to signal a drift early, before the picture changes sharply.
A quick check for your next report
Read your latest status report and ask: could a new reader tell, from the words alone, why each item has the colour it has and what is being done about it? If not, the fix is rarely a new template. It is usually a shared definition and a sentence of evidence.