MEASURE PERFORMANCE
WHY IT MATTERS
To know how to improve, a leader must first know where to improve. Knowing where to improve only happens as a leader creates meaningful measures to gauge performance. A leader that measures performance not only provides people with an extra incentive to give their best, but also the insight needed to fine-tune work to make it as efficient as possible. Because they measure performance, their people and organization know where they stand and are better positioned to meet the results they are designed to achieve. Leaders who don’t measure performance can’t assess how well the work is progressing, won’t know where it needs to improve, and risk being blind to the reality of what is really happening.
WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE
Leaders that measure performance know that performance improves when it is defined, tracked and reported. They implement performance measures as a means of better understanding what is happening in their organization. They discover how people and teams are performing, identify where the work can improve, and then plot ways to progress. They measure performance as a means of staying connected to the work. They guard their motivations for measuring performance, knowing that purely self-serving interests will be sensed by their people and turn measurement efforts into a means of demotivation instead of motivation.
Leaders that measure performance recognize not everything can be measured. They know the difference between what should be measured and what shouldn’t. They know the difference between which measures will increase performance and which will just cause extra noise and burden. They identify what components of the work matter most, prioritize them, set simple measures to track them, and reference them regularly.
Leaders that measure performance recognize nobody inherently wants to be measured. Because of that knowledge they refuse to set measures in a silo. They allow the people who will be responsible for meeting the measures to participate in the process of setting the measures. They involve people from the very beginning instead of setting performance measures and announcing them unexpectedly.
Leaders that are successful at measuring performance ensure the performance measures set are those people can actually influence and control. They don’t give people performance measures that are outside their power to achieve. They make sure performance measures really do track what they are supposed to track, are tailored to each specific situation, and can be achieved by those responsible.
Leaders that successfully implement performance measures create a culture that values high performance and sees measuring and monitoring performance as a positive activity. They make measuring performance a continuous process and a cultural way of doing work.
Leaders that are successful at measuring performance put in place a standard process for measurement across the organization. They ensure the measures at the individual level roll up to the broader organizational level. They help each individual know how their personal performance contributes to that of the broader organization.
BELIEFS
BEST PRACTICES
SELF-REFLECTION
WORDS OF CAUTION
To know how to improve, a leader must first know where to improve. Knowing where to improve only happens as a leader creates meaningful measures to gauge performance. A leader that measures performance not only provides people with an extra incentive to give their best, but also the insight needed to fine-tune work to make it as efficient as possible. Because they measure performance, their people and organization know where they stand and are better positioned to meet the results they are designed to achieve. Leaders who don’t measure performance can’t assess how well the work is progressing, won’t know where it needs to improve, and risk being blind to the reality of what is really happening.
WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE
Leaders that measure performance know that performance improves when it is defined, tracked and reported. They implement performance measures as a means of better understanding what is happening in their organization. They discover how people and teams are performing, identify where the work can improve, and then plot ways to progress. They measure performance as a means of staying connected to the work. They guard their motivations for measuring performance, knowing that purely self-serving interests will be sensed by their people and turn measurement efforts into a means of demotivation instead of motivation.
Leaders that measure performance recognize not everything can be measured. They know the difference between what should be measured and what shouldn’t. They know the difference between which measures will increase performance and which will just cause extra noise and burden. They identify what components of the work matter most, prioritize them, set simple measures to track them, and reference them regularly.
Leaders that measure performance recognize nobody inherently wants to be measured. Because of that knowledge they refuse to set measures in a silo. They allow the people who will be responsible for meeting the measures to participate in the process of setting the measures. They involve people from the very beginning instead of setting performance measures and announcing them unexpectedly.
Leaders that are successful at measuring performance ensure the performance measures set are those people can actually influence and control. They don’t give people performance measures that are outside their power to achieve. They make sure performance measures really do track what they are supposed to track, are tailored to each specific situation, and can be achieved by those responsible.
Leaders that successfully implement performance measures create a culture that values high performance and sees measuring and monitoring performance as a positive activity. They make measuring performance a continuous process and a cultural way of doing work.
Leaders that are successful at measuring performance put in place a standard process for measurement across the organization. They ensure the measures at the individual level roll up to the broader organizational level. They help each individual know how their personal performance contributes to that of the broader organization.
BELIEFS
- There are things that should be measured and things that should not, and you have to know the difference between the two.
- Measuring too many different things at once can create distraction, dissonance, unneeded complexity, and confusion.
- You have to be sure that performance measures actually measure what you intend them to or they can lead to error.
- Performance that is measured will improve. Performance that is measured and reported will improve even more.
- Measure someone based on something they can’t directly control and you will only frustrate and demotivate them.
- People can tell your motivation for setting performance measures, and if they are self-serving they won’t respond well.
- It is in the consistent reporting of metrics and the subsequent follow up that the power of performance measures is achieved.
- Performance measures need to align from the top all the way down to the very bottom of the organization.
BEST PRACTICES
- Clearly define how success is measured.
- Make sure people know their measures.
- Have people help in setting their measures.
- Follow up on performance measures.
- Tailor measures to the specific business need.
- Don’t use measures as a way to control people.
- Ensure people buy into the measures that are set.
- Monitor your performance progress.
- Know when measuring is not helpful.
- Ensure measures are not too easy or hard to reach.
- Let people give feedback on the measures used.
- Listen to concerns people have with measures.
- Create a culture that values measuring.
- Know what to measure and what not too.
- Don’t constantly change the measures.
- Make measures simple to track and easy to apply.
- Ensure metrics measure what they’re intended to.
- Recognize there are good measures and bad.
- Automate the process of reporting performance.
- Reward people who reach their measures.
- Get rid of measures that don’t work.
- Align measures across the organization.
SELF-REFLECTION
- Do I use performance measurement to drive and sustain performance, or do I fail to use measurement effectively?
- Do I have performance data to help me know what is happening in the organization, or do I have to guess?
- Do I know what should and shouldn’t be measured, or do I try to measure everyone and everything?
- Do I know that my metrics are measuring what I think they are measuring, or do I have cause to doubt their validity?
- Do I involve other people in setting the metrics that will affect them, or do I set performance metrics in a silo?
- Do I have buy-in from the organization about the metrics being applied, or do I feel people question them?
- Do I create measures that align from the top of the organization to the very bottom, or do I allow them to be misaligned?
- Do I give people performance metrics they can directly control, or do I set metrics outside their ability to control?
WORDS OF CAUTION
- Don’t succeed in measuring performance but fail to use the data to actually make improvements to the work.
- Don’t place such a heavy measurement burden on people that it keeps them from doing their real work.
- Don’t suffocate people and make them feel like everything they do is going to end up on a measurement report somewhere.
- Employees should always be involved in the process of assessing their performance.
- I know I help people when I give them feedback on their performance.
- I know exactly what success looks like.
- I’m good at following up with people on their goals.
- Successful companies are companies that keep track of performance through metrics.