→ Tactical Delivery Habits → Priority Project Progress (3P)
Keep the team honest about focus.
The problem
Agencies juggle multiple projects, shifting between clients, tools and deadlines. That context switching slows delivery, buries real priorities and hurts quality.
The fix
Name one Single Most Important Project (SMIP). Give it true priority for days or weeks, not hours.
The metric
Priority Project Progress (3P) shows how much of the team’s time actually goes to the SMIP.
- Track time in just two buckets
- Delivering the priority
- Everything else
- If you already track time, you can just tag it SMIP work.
It’s important to note that delivery does not include planning, meetings or sales. We’re only tracking the creation of value. Delivery, including designing, creating, testing and releasing. All other work on the SMIP is for the everything else bucket.
3P is a key part of the Tactical Delivery Habits Framework, and gives me a good read on how chaotic a team’s average week is.
3P% formula
- A = total team hours worked
- B = total team hours on the SMIP
- 3P% = (B / A) × 100
Example: 120 hours logged, 78 on the SMIP → 65%
How to use it
As a target
Improve week by week until you hit a strong, sustainable number. Keep watching it so old habits do not creep back.
On dashboards
Show today’s 3P% and the rolling week/month figure where everyone can see it. If it dips, work out why and take action.
In retros
When a project slips, check whether focus really matched the stated priority. Understand what sidetracked the team. Share it back to leaders. Take action to improve the situation moving forward.
Why it works
- Clarity: Everyone knows where to spend their best hours.
- Predictability: Scheduling clashes are discouraged or surfaced early.
- Profitability: Deep focus reduces rework and protects margin.
Your first step
Agree the SMIP for next week. Track time in the two buckets. Review 3P% in your stand‑up, tweak the plan, repeat.
Focus drives profit. 3P keeps you honest.