Does anyone know the score?

The theme for this month’s content is a critical ability of a leader –  prediction. A great leader should be so in touch with customers, markets and employees, they’re able to predict what is coming next. At the heart of informed prediction is gathering data.

Data collection should be both quantitative and qualitative. It is not only what can be crunched by your systems (quantitative), but should also take human-gathered intelligence (qualitative) into consideration. This allows you to get a gut feel for what’s going on. Your middle management team should lead the charge on collecting qualitative data through surveys, interviews, and regular communication with employees. This ensures work is being spread out so the senior team doesn’t get buried.

In the book Scaling Up by Verne Harnish, there are tools replete with boxes for Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and Outcomes. Start with the functions and processes that drive the business, and then focus on the meaningful objectives and priorities for the quarter and year. Don’t forget to include both quantitative and qualitative KPIs.

Rather than create detailed reports no one has time to read, review a small number of critical KPI’s at your weekly meetings for the senior, middle management and department levels.

Ensure there is a system in place to track and manage the cascading KPIs and objectives/priorities. Successful growth companies publish their quantitative and qualitative data and metrics by displaying current progress on KPIs and critical numbers on scoreboards throughout the workplace. While it is important to show how the company and departments/business units are doing, visible scoreboards also support the number one thing every employee wants to know: “Did I have a great day or week?”

Displaying your important data not only makes your business run more efficiently, but your team will appreciate the greater transparency and the ability to understand and visualize their alignment to big company objectives.

 Want to learn more about using data to better predict next steps for your company? Contact me for a free consultation.