• Jun 03, 2015
• Comments Off on Who needs performance measurement skills?
• Lavery McGlynn

Who needs performance measurement skills?

Who do you think in would benefit from performance measurement skills in your organisation? If you work in a large organisation, you may think these skills belong just to the people who work in strategy, quality and process improvement positions. If you are in a smaller firm, you may think just the management staff need to have them. I would argue that in order to have a consistent approach to selecting performance measures, everyone needs some level of skill or, at the very least, an understanding of performance measurement.

Most companies carry out performance measurement and improvement activities daily, perhaps without even realising it. They may be measuring things simply because they can, or because they always have done, without being clear on which results are worth measuring. This can lead to knee-jerk reactions, non-evidence based changes and too many things being measured.

Just because measurements are happening regularly, and THE MEASURES even be presented using lovely charts and graphs – it’s not safe to assume that people know what they’re doing when it comes to taking meaningful measurements.
In my experience lots of things are being measured but little is being done because no one really understands what the measures are actually telling us.

Those involved in the Performance Measurement team will have their own roles in the process, but there are others who would benefit from performance measurement skills including:

Executives:
Executives need skills in making strategy measurable, designing meaningful measures, interpreting those measures validly and using them to drive strategy forward.

Managers:
Managers need similar skills, but can also benefit from an appreciation of the data collection and reporting processes.

Everyone else:
Everyone else needs to understand the organisation’s chosen performance measurement methodology, and how to use performance measures to keep monitoring and improving the results of their own work. Some staff will be involved in data collection and reporting, and should be taught specific skills in sampling, form design, data collection process design, and even report design.

If you think your staff could benefit from a tailored Performance Measure Blueprint Workshop, which will give your colleagues a great opportunity to learn a consistent performance measurement approach, get in touch. The workshop helps them to put their new knowledge into practice immediately to develop more meaningful measures in support of your organisation’s strategy.