The right performance measures, well-used, are a vital business and team tool.
And yet, not many people are comfortable creating or using performance measures in the most substantial and valuable way.
Great customer- and goal-oriented performance measures can turn a good plan into a series of steady, sure actions that lead you to your goal, often in the most direct way.
Without the direction that the right measures provide, a team often works in the dark, guessing, rather than knowing, hoping rather than managing to know that things will work out.
The right measures can also free you up as a leader to get to the higher value, more strategic work you may not be able to get to now if you're busy keeping your team on track. If you're a leader, there are easier ways to provide meaningful feedback once work is underway. You can do this if you set your organization or team up to be as self-managing and self-correcting as possible, through the right process measures and information about their progress to milestones.
That leaves you to focus your time and attention, and your work with them, on more strategic and long-term issues that have you better-prepared for the future.
Create performance measures and feedback mechanisms that enable your team to know, almost at a glance, how they're doing all along the way to their goal.
Below, here are a few questions to answer as you try to do so. These questions, and your answers, won't solve all performance measurement design challenges, nor will it make your team immediately comfortable using measures if they aren't now. But these questions will help you start to create measures and feedback mechanisms that help you choose and take the right actions to get you to your customer-desired goals most easily.
Answer these questions to help you design performance measures and feedback mechanisms that work well for you, your team, and, as a result, your customers:
Goal
1. Who are the customers for this work?
2. What is success to them?
3. How would they quantify that goal? In other words, what are your customer requirements for a successful outcome?
Starting Point
4. What is your starting point, or your current state, on the way to that goal?
How You'll Close the Gap
5. What's the gap you're trying to close between your current state and the goal?
6. What actions do you and your team need to take to close that gap?
How to Know You're Closing the Gap...Or That You Aren't
7. What can you measure to track and manage the actions you need to take? Consider measures in these types of categories when you consider performance measures that may help you:
- Timeliness
- Cost
- Customer satisfaction
- Cycle time
- Flexibility
8. What are some major milestones on your way to the goal, and how can you quantify them?
How You'll Make the Information Easy to Get and Use
9. Who needs to see the measures and progress indicators, and to be able to use them to monitor, manage, and correct performance?
10. What is the easiest way for the people who need to use the information to get it when they need it?
How You'll Know if You Need to Improve Your Performance Measures
11. How will you know if your performance measures are working well?
12. How can you adjust the measures if they are not providing you the right direction, incentive, and momentum for your team to make the progress you seek?
How You'll Know When It's Time to Celebrate
13. How will you recognize when you've arrived at each major milestone?
14. How will you know when you've arrived at your final, customer-defined goal?
And yet, not many people are comfortable creating or using performance measures in the most substantial and valuable way.
Great customer- and goal-oriented performance measures can turn a good plan into a series of steady, sure actions that lead you to your goal, often in the most direct way.
Without the direction that the right measures provide, a team often works in the dark, guessing, rather than knowing, hoping rather than managing to know that things will work out.
The right measures can also free you up as a leader to get to the higher value, more strategic work you may not be able to get to now if you're busy keeping your team on track. If you're a leader, there are easier ways to provide meaningful feedback once work is underway. You can do this if you set your organization or team up to be as self-managing and self-correcting as possible, through the right process measures and information about their progress to milestones.
That leaves you to focus your time and attention, and your work with them, on more strategic and long-term issues that have you better-prepared for the future.
Create performance measures and feedback mechanisms that enable your team to know, almost at a glance, how they're doing all along the way to their goal.
Below, here are a few questions to answer as you try to do so. These questions, and your answers, won't solve all performance measurement design challenges, nor will it make your team immediately comfortable using measures if they aren't now. But these questions will help you start to create measures and feedback mechanisms that help you choose and take the right actions to get you to your customer-desired goals most easily.
Answer these questions to help you design performance measures and feedback mechanisms that work well for you, your team, and, as a result, your customers:
Goal
1. Who are the customers for this work?
2. What is success to them?
3. How would they quantify that goal? In other words, what are your customer requirements for a successful outcome?
Starting Point
4. What is your starting point, or your current state, on the way to that goal?
How You'll Close the Gap
5. What's the gap you're trying to close between your current state and the goal?
6. What actions do you and your team need to take to close that gap?
How to Know You're Closing the Gap...Or That You Aren't
7. What can you measure to track and manage the actions you need to take? Consider measures in these types of categories when you consider performance measures that may help you:
- Timeliness
- Cost
- Customer satisfaction
- Cycle time
- Flexibility
8. What are some major milestones on your way to the goal, and how can you quantify them?
How You'll Make the Information Easy to Get and Use
9. Who needs to see the measures and progress indicators, and to be able to use them to monitor, manage, and correct performance?
10. What is the easiest way for the people who need to use the information to get it when they need it?
How You'll Know if You Need to Improve Your Performance Measures
11. How will you know if your performance measures are working well?
12. How can you adjust the measures if they are not providing you the right direction, incentive, and momentum for your team to make the progress you seek?
How You'll Know When It's Time to Celebrate
13. How will you recognize when you've arrived at each major milestone?
14. How will you know when you've arrived at your final, customer-defined goal?
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