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Measuring What You "Need" Versus What You "Can"
There are all kinds of reasons why many organisations have performance reports that are bursting at the seams with measures that mean nothing, impact nothing or lead to nothing. Often it's because they are measures that have always been reported, or some manager wanted the measure for a project that ended years ago but it's still being reported on. Irrespective of why, this is for certain: if a measure is not informing a decision or choice, it's wasting space & time and most certainly money.
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Document Transcript:
Measuring What You "Need" Versus What You "Can"
by Stacey Barr, the Performance Measure Specialist
There are all kinds of reasons why so many organisations have performance reports that are bursting at
the seams with measures that mean nothing, impact nothing or lead to nothing. They're measures that
some will say "that's interesting" and others will bark are "a waste of time".
Often it's because they are the measures that have always been reported, or some manager once
wanted the measure for a project that ended five and a half years ago but it's still being report just in
case, or because something is better than the nothing that would exist if we left it up to decision makers
to decide what should be in the reports.
Irrespective of why, this is for certain: if a measure is not informing a decision or choice, it's wasting
space and time and most certainly money.
But how do you start the move from measuring what's easy to measuring what matters?
You may not be able right now to engage all your report users in a process to decide the most
meaningful measures to include. It's not as simple as a measures brainstorming exercise! So try these
simple tactics in the meantime:
y Start asking report users which measures or pages they always look at first, and why. Chances are
their attention will go to what matters most, first.
y Similary, ask report users which measures they virtually never look at or never use to inform their
decision making. Listen out for whether they use the word "interesting" versus "useful"!
y Start dropping out the measures that report users rarely use or say are just interesting. Don't ask
their permission if you don't have to, as their reactions will tell you if the measures need to be there.
Often people don't notice or miss what they don't value.
y Ask report users what decisions they use the report to inform or assist with. I'll bet it's a question
they've never asked themselves and your giving them the opportunity to become conscious of that
may just help them get clearer about what information they do need.
y If you have to molly-coddle your report users because they'll freak if their reports change, then next
month try producing two versions of the report. One as per usual, and the other a pared-down
version without the least valued measures or information. Give them the latter first, and only use
the original version as a backup pacifier!
about the author
Stacey Barr is the Performance Measure Specialist, helping people to measure their business strategy,
goals and objectives so they actually achieve them.
Sign up for Stacey's free ezine at www.staceybarr.com to receive your complimentary copy of her e-
book "202 Tips for Performance Measurement", and get more control over the destiny of your business.
reprinting this article
Please feel welcomed to reprint this article in your publication but make sure it stays complete and
unchanged (especially including the "about the author" information at the end), and please send a copy
of your reprint to staceybarr@staceybarr.com.
by Stacey Barr, the Performance Measure Specialist
There are all kinds of reasons why so many organisations have performance reports that are bursting at
the seams with measures that mean nothing, impact nothing or lead to nothing. They're measures that
some will say "that's interesting" and others will bark are "a waste of time".
Often it's because they are the measures that have always been reported, or some manager once
wanted the measure for a project that ended five and a half years ago but it's still being report just in
case, or because something is better than the nothing that would exist if we left it up to decision makers
to decide what should be in the reports.
Irrespective of why, this is for certain: if a measure is not informing a decision or choice, it's wasting
space and time and most certainly money.
But how do you start the move from measuring what's easy to measuring what matters?
You may not be able right now to engage all your report users in a process to decide the most
meaningful measures to include. It's not as simple as a measures brainstorming exercise! So try these
simple tactics in the meantime:
y Start asking report users which measures or pages they always look at first, and why. Chances are
their attention will go to what matters most, first.
y Similary, ask report users which measures they virtually never look at or never use to inform their
decision making. Listen out for whether they use the word "interesting" versus "useful"!
y Start dropping out the measures that report users rarely use or say are just interesting. Don't ask
their permission if you don't have to, as their reactions will tell you if the measures need to be there.
Often people don't notice or miss what they don't value.
y Ask report users what decisions they use the report to inform or assist with. I'll bet it's a question
they've never asked themselves and your giving them the opportunity to become conscious of that
may just help them get clearer about what information they do need.
y If you have to molly-coddle your report users because they'll freak if their reports change, then next
month try producing two versions of the report. One as per usual, and the other a pared-down
version without the least valued measures or information. Give them the latter first, and only use
the original version as a backup pacifier!
about the author
Stacey Barr is the Performance Measure Specialist, helping people to measure their business strategy,
goals and objectives so they actually achieve them.
Sign up for Stacey's free ezine at www.staceybarr.com to receive your complimentary copy of her e-
book "202 Tips for Performance Measurement", and get more control over the destiny of your business.
reprinting this article
Please feel welcomed to reprint this article in your publication but make sure it stays complete and
unchanged (especially including the "about the author" information at the end), and please send a copy
of your reprint to staceybarr@staceybarr.com.
