Are You Drowning in Data?

Data is so prevalent today in organizations. Marketing departments look at impressions, web site visits, time on web site, the Quality team looks at Right First Time, Scrap and Defects, Customer Service analyzes Customer Complaints, Time to Respond. The list of different data points goes on and on.

Too many times companies look at all this data simply because they have it. There is so much to review they become paralyzed by it and can’t decide if they are winning or losing. Eventually the team stops looking at the spreadsheet or the screen because it is no longer worth the time.

Meaningful scorecards have 15-18 metrics that speak to the day to day, week to week activities of the team. Just because the data point exist does not mean you need to review it. Individual teams need to decide, not someone in finance or in corporate, what metrics are important to them, what metrics they can impact with a behavior change or process improvement and what will create discussions around continuous improvement.

Every 90-120 days the team needs to set aside time to meet and discuss the metrics on their scorecard. What needs to come off, what needs to be added, do targets or thresholds need to change?

This practice engages everyone, it creates ownership in the metrics of the team and it motivates the team to deliver maximum effort and ultimately success.

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