Measure what matters

“Some things we can count don’t count. Some things we can’t count really count.”

Albert Einstein’s words are a cautionary reminder to bean counters and number crunchers that success in a partnership cannot always be reduced to cold facts and figures for assessment purposes. On the other hand, it is often said that what gets measured gets done.

The key to creating good performance indicators is to measure what matters –to avoid numbing bureaucracy by focusing on data that will truly help the partnership stay on track, keep improving and reach tangible, meaningful targets.

WHY USE KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS (KPIs)?

Measure progress towards achieving objectives and targets

Make comparisons
-within the service, over time
-with other organisations or partnerships
-against a best practice model

Promote accountability

Promote service improvement

As a learning tool

As a publicity tool

WHO USES KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS (KPIs)?

Staff and managers of service

Direct users of the service

Stakeholders

Funders of the service

Auditors, inspectors and regulators

Opinion formers (including the media)

Key influencers (including politicians)

Learning organisations

The general public

I'm going to say more about choosing appropriate indicators in a later posting, but let me finish this one off by mentioning a novel use of indicators that I heard about from someone at the Groundwork Trust.

Residents of an attractive town in the South East of England became increasingly concerned about the quantity of dog mess ruining their local park.

One day a team of volunteers placed red flags over every dog mess they could find, and invited the press to witness their work.

Pictures of over 900 flags made quite a stir in the local media.Their novel indicator proved very effective. When the team repeated the exercise a few weeks later only 250 flags were needed.