Metrics Matter

There are many ways to improve productivity and performance - via technology, process change, culture change and so on.  But with each one, we need to measure the success (or otherwise) of our initiative to understand what works in our organisation.

We need to identify which metrics are the most important for determining efficiency.and the most appropriate for our particular project.

When selecting the right operational metrics for your company, ask yourself which of the below is most important at the present time, and work from there:

• Productivity
• Operational costs
• Employee engagement
• Product quality
• Customer satisfaction

You should try and balance leading and lagging indicators so that you know what has happened, what is happening, and what should happen in the future.

We should be looking at the performance of our employees - as individuals and as teams … and here we might need both hard (from production records) and soft data (from appraisals).

Financial metrics are often important - what is happening to labour costs, running costs, overheads? … as are quality metrics (Error rates, customer complaints).  These can be supported or clarified with customer satisfaction and customer retention/repeat business metrics.

Employee satisfaction scores (for retention, absenteeism, satisfaction) are another dimension appropriate for specific projects.

You also have to remember that measurement costs money so try to use data already collected for other purposes.

Pick a 'basket of measures' that do not concentrate too much on any one dimension.  For example concentrating on throughput at the expense of quality.

With a comprehensive, balanced  data-driven approach to performance measurement, your organisation can make meaningful process improvements to lower costs, reduce waste, and improve productivity and profits.  The metrics you choose help signal intent, show progress and demonstrate success.

Focus!

I`nterruptions are distractions.  Those people who constantly respond to texts, emails and  messaging systems might feel 'in the loop' but their productivity is probably woefully low.  Discipline is needed to wait until an appropriate time when the task in hand is finished or can be paused with no detriment. Those who cannot be disciplined should turn off their technology to give them periods in which they can fully concentrate.

Multitasking is also distracting.  Those who either try to do two things at once or switch constantly between two tasks will also suffer a lack of performance.  Have you ever tried to read two books at the same time?  Most people who do so find they gain little from either book.  The problems of multitasking are made worse if the tasks in the rotation require the same part of the brain for completion.  So, a creative task could just about be carried out air he same time as a mundane, repetitive task but two creative tasks at the same time is not possible - except for a very few people with strange (even weird) attributes.

Constant interruptions can not only affect concentration - and thus performance; they can also affect employees' mental health.

Some of the 'productivity techniques' suggest assigning specific periods of time to specific tasks (or portions of specific tasks) - and this can be a useful device - again if practised in a disciplined manner.  These periods should be long enough to allow concentration to grow, settle and be effective - say a minimum of 30 minutes.

However you do it, it is important to build barriers that prevent interruptions and distractions looming into your consciousness when you are trying to concentrate.

It also helps if the leaders of work groups create periods of the day or week when there will be no meetings - and employees are discouraged from interrupting their colleagues.

The aim should be to create periods of time - and to allow employees to create their own periods of time - when focus can be total.