Are You Measuring What Matters?

We human beings are strange creatures full of contradictions. We often dislike the very things that are best for us. Such is the case with being measured. On one hand, being measured makes us very uncomfortable. It creates within us a degree of anxiety, fear, and apprehension. On the other hand, we almost always improve our performance in areas where we are specifically and regularly measured.

 

Remember high school? Teachers gave homework assignments. Some teachers were not consistent in collecting the homework and never corrected it. Other teachers consistently collected the homework, corrected it carefully, handed it back, and gave you very specific feedback about what you needed to do to improve. Although you might not have liked getting that feedback, it is what helped you learn. Today, those are the teachers you remember. They are the ones who helped you the most and for whom you have the most respect.

 

This is the principle behind Critical Measures of Success. What gets measured gets managed. What gets managed gets done. What gets rewarded gets repeated.

 

Critical Measures of Success are statistical indicators of an organization's performance. A Critical Measure is a statistic or data point that, when tracked over a period of time, will enable you to determine the progress your organization is making toward the intended outcome of the goals you have set. For example, one of our clients established a Critical Measure of a 4.5 for overall customer satisfaction for her company (based on 5.00 being the highest satisfaction rating possible). She asks us to conduct an annual survey of her customers which allows her to benchmark overall satisfaction, as well as other specific areas such as quality, technical abilities, customer service, pricing, lead time, and on-time shipping performance (just to name a few). This survey activity allows her and her management team to evaluate their performance with customers and apply course corrections and improvements as needed, with the goal of achieving and maintaining a 4.5 rating. 

 

The concept of Critical Measures of Success is to identify the critical indicators of your organization. You then monitor these indicators on a regular basis and report the results to your management team. Monitoring and reporting the Critical Measures becomes the basis for communication, problem solving and continuous improvement within your organization.

 

Here are six steps you can use to make Critical Measures of Success a key ingredient for you:

1. Define your Critical Measures of Success.
2. Develop systems to gather the information you need.
3. Display your Critical Measures of Success in a visual form throughout the organization.
4. Build your Critical Measures of Success into your monthly management meetings and employee communication.
5. Involve employees in generating ideas for improvement when your measures are off track.
6. Use your Critical Measures of Success as the basis for employee recognition and rewards, and celebrate your successes.

Many of our clients use these steps to bring people together around common areas for continuous improvement. If you are wondering what’s most important for you to measure within your organization, we can help. Call us toll-free at 1-800-999-6615, email us at mail@tweedweber.com and/or visit us on the web at www.tweedweber.com. Also, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn (Tweed-Weber, Inc.) and Twitter (@TweedWeber).

 

Tweed-Weber can help you develop a strategic plan that includes your unique Critical Measures of Success. We can also help you measure your performance from the perspective of your customers so you know, in real numbers, how well you are satisfying your customers in today’s competitive business environment.