Just about every working person has experienced bad performance management processes with indicators that failed to capture all that was accomplished, or hold achievements in the context of the barriers that were presented. At best, bad indicators and metrics get ignored, at worst, they drive efforts in directions that are counter to the organization’s priorities (like spending more time reporting what’s been done than doing it).
We have had lots of experience with bad metrics and are passionate about helping organizations and networks build better indicators that reflect a balance of considerations for what success looks like and that involve intentional exploration and co-learning within teams about what is possible and what challenges hinder progress. This work is iterative – we work with teams to build potentially strong metrics, pilot them and track what happens, and then revise until they are:
- Manageable to track
- Compelling across the organization
- Directly mapped to impacts on service populations