Observation #45
Over the years, one of the things we’ve noticed is that each new manager tends to create new reports, for whatever purpose they have at the time. Old reports are not eliminated, so over time there are a mountain of available reports – and a mountain of performance indicators — in the system. But like a software program with too many features, this is not necessarily helpful. Sometimes it’s just confusing.
One of the hardest things about management is knowing what you should be focusing on. What specific key indicators are most important to ensure that your area of responsibility is achieving its core objectives? As consultants, we are sometimes part of the problem: we can become enamored with “drilling down” into issues and have a tendency to build too many metrics into operating reports. This can overwhelm management and fragment their focus, rather than help concentrate it.
We generally believe that people are most effective when they focus on just three things. When looking at reports and key performance indicators, use this rule as a starting point. As a manager, if there were only three indicators that you could focus on, what would they be? Culling a lengthy list of indicators down to your critical three is not only very illuminating, it can also help you figure out what reports you need or don’t need.
Tell us your three indicators in the comments section of our blog!
