Greek sculptor Polykletis the Elder wrote that 2500 years ago in 450 BC. It captures an essential management practice for today: collect data in a patient and disciplined way, building on earlier information, to achieve incremental improvements.
It implies having key performance indicators (KPIs) and the measurement tools to track results to tell you if your business practices are leading to sustained growth. Some guidelines:
- Insure KPIs, performance goals, and measurement tools exist for all phases of your business and sub-departments.
- Incorporate KPIs into the staff performance management system to create performance reviews custom-tailored by position to reinforce expected behavior and results linked to your business mission.
- Institute a disciplined process of regular review and reporting of performance data down to the sub-department level.
- Important to design KPIs and measurement tools specific to new business initiatives. Ask yourself: “What are we attempting to achieve? Will the organization and customer value the service?”
- Implement planning and follow-up procedure to track progress against established milestones for new business initiatives.
- Performance data should be valid, reliable and verifiable: it measures what it is supposed to measure.
- Instill being performance data driven as a way of operating for all staff.