Metrics_ How to Improve Key Business Results - Martin Klubeck [141]
When
When are you going to implement the change? When are you hoping to achieve the goal?
When are you going to measure? The first of the month? The first workday of the week? In the morning, afternoon, or evening?
At what frequency will you collect, analyze, and report your metrics? Daily? Weekly? Monthly? Quarterly? Are you on a fiscal, annual, or academic calendar?
“When” is more than a way to define the scope of your efforts. It helps you determine deadlines and focus your efforts. It also gives you insights to how the workload and processes will change when you implement a program.
Who
Who will lead the effort? Who will assist? Who will be involved? Who will collect the data? Who will compile the measures? Who will analyze the information? Who will create the metric? Who will report the metric and to whom? Who will explain the anomalies? Who will get the credit? Who will take the blame? Who owns the program? Who will have access and who won't? Who is going to pay for the work?
“Who …” is a critical question to ask if you actually want to get anything done. You have to know who the customer is, who the providers are, and who will use the metrics.
How
How will you implement the program? How will you use the metrics? How won't you use them? How will you improve the organization? How will you communicate your needs? How will you share the results? How will you determine the usefulness of your metrics? How will you kill metrics that are no longer needed?
The “how” can be as simple as a checklist or as complex as an operational manual. The documentation you choose will determine the size of the how. The way you choose to capture and share the how will drive changes in your organization.
These are many of the questions I've asked you to consider during the development of your metrics program. I bring them back to your attention to point out that the answers to these questions are very likely to be unique to you and your organization. Metrics designed to help you improve your organization mean that you will be dealing with your organization's strengths and weaknesses. It is unlikely that these will exist in the same shape and form in other organizations. You'd have to get inputs from thousands of organizations to find matches for all of your unique needs. That assumes, of course, that there are thousands of organizations like yours, already doing metrics, doing them properly, and willing to share with you.
What If Your Boss Doesn't Agree?
What do you do if your boss insists on you finding others to follow? What if you can't convince him to embrace the organization's uniqueness? I offer the following list of steps you can follow to embrace your uniqueness, understanding that you will have to pick and choose which will work for you.
Don't Be Caught Off Guard
Don't be caught off guard. Expect leadership to send you on the goose chase.
Don't resist (resistance is futile) the tasking. Instead, attempt to explain that you still need root questions to ensure that you find good examples or benchmarks. Let's say you run into the extremely stubborn leader who argues, “Why create your own root questions if you can use someone else's?” You can attempt to explain why using someone else's requirements instead of determining your own is a bad idea. Or you can give him a copy of this book. Or you can get to work on the research and get it over with.
You'll need to get as much defined for your organization before comparing or seeking out examples. This includes root questions, metrics, and all of the components you will need. Get as much done as you can so that you clearly differentiate what you want from what your peers/competitors need. It will also give you something to barter with if your contemporaries are willing to share on