Metrics_ How to Improve Key Business Results - Martin Klubeck [78]
With this root question in hand, I endeavored to find a way to build a metric program that would provide meaningful answers. The “we” I refer to is a metric project team made up of Ernst & Young consultants and myself.
To instill a metric program in an organization that was not truly ready for it was a difficult proposition. One that was actually impossible to succeed at. I say that with all humility because even with the level of success we enjoy today with the Report Card, it's still not used to its full potential. But we are getting better, and the Report Card has lasted longer than any other reporting tool our organization has used to date.
To succeed at this challenge while keeping to the principles and values I've laid out so far in this book was even more difficult. To make this possible, especially when working with a mandate (perhaps one of the worst ways to implement any specific improvement effort because it removes the chance for “buy-in” of the workforce), required a metric program that would have benefit to the data owners, the executive requesting the answers, as well as all the people in between.
Along with a metric system that would provide meaningful information to all levels, I wanted it to be easy to understand and require as little translation between levels as possible.
As I've written earlier, you can't do this on your own. It would have been impossible for me to succeed at this by myself—not only because the effort was too large for one person, but because I wouldn't be able to obtain buy-in on my own. The service providers wouldn't buy in and believe how the information would (and wouldn't) be used if I didn't involve them throughout the process. Management wouldn't buy in to the idea that whatever solution I developed was going to work, since I was already a member of the village. No prophet (or metrics designer) is accepted in his own village. So I ended up with a team of outside consultants, myself, and heavy involvement of each service provider.
Concept
First, you may be thinking, “Why a Report Card and not a Scorecard? After all, many organizations track metrics using them.” I started with the thought of using a scorecard. The scorecard methodology included using measures from different areas (which fit the concept of triangulation), but the areas were not even within the same family of measures (see Answer Key). The other problem was that Scorecards mixed in the more “risky” efficiency measures along with effectiveness ones. Without a doubt, I wanted to stay in the Service/Product Health area, since I'd be working hard to break through enough barriers without fighting the war that would ensue with efficiency measures.
What I liked about the scorecard (and dashboards) was the combination of measures to tell a fuller picture. That fits the definition of a metric rather than just a bunch of measures.
But think about the name itself: the scorecard represents a means of knowing “who's winning.” In the fall of 2011, I watched the University of Notre Dame lose its opening football game 23–20 to the University of South Florida. What was amazing was that Notre Dame “won” in every imaginable category, and not by just a little. Offensively, defensively, all categories except one: turnovers. In the end, the only statistic that matters is the final score, and that is determined by points. Those points are normally predictable through other measures.
So, the scorecard will tell you quickly who is winning, and who has won. It won't tell you, though, who is performing better in specific areas. A fan may only be concerned with the scorecard, but I was working with the equivalents of the coaching staff. The offensive, defensive, and special team coaches, along with the running backs, receivers, and linebackers coaches would all want to know how their units were performing.
I wanted the best of both. I wanted