Bad habits that cause performance measurement struggles

Economic Development Council of Ontario, Plenary, February 3, 2016

Measurement done right can transform your organization

Strategic Plan is done!

What are you going to measure?

What are you going to measure?There is an easier way

Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it and I shall move the world. Archimedes

Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it and I shall move the world. Archimedes

Struggle: No real buy-in.

Struggle: Immeasurable goals.

Struggle: Meaningless Measures

Our KPI struggles are caused by bad habits that have become common practice.

Bad Habit: Judging people with measures.

Try this: Use Measures as a tool in the hand, not a rod for the back.

Bad Habit: Writing goals with weasel words.

accessibility, quality, capacity, dynamic, efficient, fit-for-purpose, holistic,

innovative, key, leveraged, high impact, productivity, reliable, sustainable,

transparent, state of the art, world-class

I found some goals in Economic Development:

Can you spot the weasel words? Leverage the City’s existing strengths as a

competitive global hub for innovative, knowledge-based talent, businesses and organizations to inspire and facilitate future economic development activities.

Culture of Innovation: Develop Our Local Assets to Create a High Quality Urban Environment

Try this:Write goals a 5th-grader can understand.

Goals made more measurable: Culture of Innovation: Develop Our Local Assets

to Create a High Quality Urban Environment Downtown streets are filled with people The air is safe to breathe People walk, bike and take transit to travel around our

city. Leverage the City’s existing strengths as a

competitive global hub for innovative, knowledge-based talent, businesses and organizations to inspire and facilitate future economic development activities. • Businesses open head offices in our city• Local businesses grow through selling their goods and

services outside our region.• People start new businesses• Employed residents have better paying private sector

jobs.

Bad Habit: Brainstorming measures.

What is a performance measure, really?

Try this: Evidence before measures: quantify what you see, hear, feel, observe.

Measure Design in Economic Development

Result or Outcome: Local businesses grow by exporting goods and services outside our region Connect businesses with markets where we have

air cargo capacity. Export Revenues Earned – The average

quarterly percent growth of EDC client companies’ sales revenues earned from exporting goods or services to markets outside our region.

Design more meaningful measuresUse a deliberate approach that • Quantifies evidence • Tests for strength and feasibility

Performance measurement is a process, not an event.

Fix the focus on

continuous improvemen

t as the purpose for

measurement.

Step 1Translate

strategy into clear,

focused, measurable performance

results.

Step 2Choose

feasible and relevant

measures that

evidence the

performance results.

Step 3Get

ownership from

stakeholders quickly,

easily and engagingly.

Step 4

Document in detail the

data, analysis and reporting for

each measure.

Step 5Focus on

gaps between as-is and to-be performance

.

Step 6Create useful and usable

performance reports that

inspire action.

Step 7Improve business

processes to move as-is

performance toward to-

be.

Step 8

Stop wasting time and resources.Overcome your struggles and reach your goals more easily and quickly.

Reducing average days from 67 to 23 saved $500,000 on a $12,000 investment

Remove fear, weasel words, and brainstorming.

To transform your EDC using measurement: Make measurement about process improvement,

not judgement Write goals in everyday language, not weasel

words Design measures by quantifying the evidence of

those goals, not brainstorming www.adurastrategy.com

on the performance measurement pageDownload White Paper: 8 bad habits of performance measurement

How to un-do your bad habits now

Vancouver Public Workshop:

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March 31-April 1, 2016• Still seats left

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Thank you! Any Questions?

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