Measure Individual & Team Performance Effectively

Written by: Alan Rodway - Your Coach Online

Many businesses have (and should) have all sorts of measures in place to measure the success of the business itself. But measurement of an individual’s performance and a team’s performance is obviously an important part of the measurement and accountability process.

This Success Action outlines how we strongly encourage you to set it up in your business (teams) by using a system of MAO’s (Measurable Actions & Outcomes). Don’t use the term kpi (Key Performance Indicator) … we don’t want to ‘indicate’ anything … we want to measure and hold ourselves to account.

The MAO’s approach to measuring individual and team performance:

1. Firstly, everyone has to recognize the fact that It’s not a perfect world and therefore any system of measurement is likely to have its imperfections as well. The reason for making this point is that if anyone has an expectation that the measurement process is perfect then the rules, qualifications and riders that have to underwrite it will make it an encyclopedia of detail and therefore impractical.

2. Each person within the business / team should have up to four (4) MAO’s (Measurable Actions & Outcomes) … up to three (3 ) Measurable Actions and one (1) or more Measurable Outcomes. No more than four in total … that would be too difficult.

3. Each person firstly drafts their own MAO’s in a way that represents what they believe would reflect a solid performance. They should all be challenging but realistic.

  1. The team should then meet to discuss each individual’s draft MAO’s, to adjust and agree them. Adjustments are expected to occur, either because they have been set too high / too low or simply because other MAO’s may be more appropriate. Note that individuals don’t have to restrict their MAO’s to their own job roles … they can venture beyond that if they wish.
  2. The owners / directors must then accept the MAO’s that the team has put forward … and adjust them if desired. Note that there are therefore two sign off points … first the team and then the owner / directors.
  3. A monthly session must be held to track the progress of each individual against their own MAO’s, via a template report which simply lists the MAO’s for everyone, the actual data for each and a Yes or No for each MAO re whether it’s on track / being met.
  4. Everyone must track and report their own data with respect to their MAO’s. It is their responsibility not the business’s.
  5. Everyone must report their data in writing and a compiled summary report for everyone must be distributed to the full team 48 business hours prior to each monthly session. One individual within the team should take responsibility for receiving the individual reports, collating the data and forwarding the full report to all team members.
  6. The monthly team session is to then to discuss the help that each person needs to meet their MAO’s.
  7. Everyone is expected to achieve ALL of their MAO’s. Missing any of them should not be acceptable. The individual wrote / accepted them and should meet them. If, say, meeting three out of four is acceptable for any individual then it’s acceptable for another. Then maybe meeting two out of four is also acceptable …. Etc. Near enough is not good enough or that will spread.
  8. MAO’s can be changed at anytime as long as the team and the owners / directors agree, as per the original setting up of them. This does not reduce the accountability. Circumstances change and that can be recognized.
  9. The MAO process should apply to a six month period, with fresh MAO’s set at the beginning of each six months.
  10. An MA or MO could apply to a week, a month, a quarter or the six months … or it could apply to every week, month or quarter.
  11. A margin for ‘error’ can be built into MAO’s, such as 90% of deliveries in full on time … to make them realistic.
  12. It normally takes a month or two to move through the setting up of the MAO process for a business / team that has not done it before, and it should not be rushed.
  13. The MAO measurement / accountability process can obviously be used as the basis for incentives for individuals and teams.

Some examples of Measurable Actions:

  • Visit 2 key clients for face to face reviews per month
  • Contact 10 potential clients by phone or email per month
  • Hold 1 seminar per quarter
  • Complete a revised induction kit for new personnel by –/–/—-
  • Conduct full stock take by –/–/—-
  • Send client survey to a minimum of 200 clients by –/–/—-

Some examples of Measurable Outcomes:

  • Achieve or exceed budgeted net profit before tax for the six months
  • Achieve an average gross margin of 20% for the six months
  • List 4 houses per month
  • Increase annualised revenue from 1 key client each month
  • Achieve delivery in full and on time for 90% of orders
  • Achieve 98% accuracy for data entry each month

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