Read any book on performance management and you will soon come across a chapter on the importance of goal-setting. A mnemonic that is familiar to students of this topic is SMART – making your goals Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic/Relevant and Timebound. This article considers the importance of Measurement in the goal-setting process. Two oft-quoted phrases around good management practice are:
‘If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it’ and, ‘You get what you measure’
So if it is so important, why is measurement of performance either neglected or just misunderstood? Perhaps it is because not all measures are the same, and so we need to carefully select what type of measure is best for the particular task we are trying to manage.
Why do we need measures? I think there are three main reasons:
- To give someone a target to aim for (That is telling them what a good job looks like)
- To have a system for tracking progress.
- To have a system for taking corrective action, when required.
To read our 7 key messages for effective measurement, visit our Executive Lounge at http://www.enthiostraining.co.uk/ and click on Downloads.
Miles
No comments:
Post a Comment