Part 16 (1/2)

Figure 8-6 shows an example of what I estiure 8-6 Letting the data determine the norure 8-6) seeree that your customers' expectations lie between a 75 percent and an 85 percent rate of perfor of heads That isn't enough, though I want to get as close to correct as possible, but I'uess to start I say this because regardless of where we set the expectations, wethe definition We e our processes in a way that the expectations would have to change (rarely do custorow to expect less-most times they will only expect more)

I ask, ”So, would the custoet a yes, I ask the logical follow up question, ”How did the custoust of Year 3?” And, ”How did you achieve these results?” I'd ask the saust of Year 2 Depending on the answers I ht readjust the expectations

I mentioned that you could use statistical analysis Let's look at an exa Microsoft Excel's Data analysis Add-in tools

Figure 8-7 Histograuess of 75 to 85 percent would seereater than 75 percent and less than or equal to 85 percent If we look at a sie offered is quite reasonable and probable But again, the ainst customer feedback

A siure 8-8, tests the visual interpretation and affirure 8-8 Frequency chart of two-year saht on perforets, thresholds, and using oals-should be replaced by a collaborative approach that gives ownershi+p of service and product quality to the workforce This is acco custoe

Meeting expectations is what you want to do on a regular basis

Failing to ated to deter expectations is an anoated to deterative anoanization Whether you are exceeding expectations or failing to ate further

When setting expectations, look to the data to help identify the norm The question then becomes, ”Is the norm equal to the customers' expectations?” If yes, then the data should reflect that The purpose is to be able to identify the anoe of expected behavior

Treasure anomalies-because anomalies are where your metrics earn their return on investe of expectations is to ensure that you are properly identifying the anoht doesn't work Using metrics as a form of motivation falls closer to manipulation than collaboration You'll need to develop a solid rapport with your workforce and fully teaoals, targets, thresholds, usingatool for the job

Meeting custooal Anomalies to the expectations can provide useful information

Expectations provide a clear context and are the key to open the doors to i the Metrics Report Card

I struggled for a long ti to decide how to introduce the Report Card to you I debated if I should present it as another tool (like the Answer Key), or offer it as a y What I settled on was to offer it as a real-life example of how metrics, when used within the constructs I've offered, can evolve and take shape

I will relate to you the three-year journey to develop a viable anization in which I had to clearly articulate the overall health of the organization and the health of each of its core services I , and trying I will share with you the journey of discovery and the final destination I arrived at Hopefully you can learn from my mistakes and benefit from the final product as either a template or example for your use

The top-level executive asked a straightforward question of our CIO, ”How healthy is your organization? And how do you know?” This fit in ith the curiosity of anization's health, but didn't kno to communicate the need

With this root question in hand, I endeavored to find a way to build a ful answers The ”we” I refer to is aconsultants and anization that was not truly ready for it was a difficult proposition One that was actually impossible to succeed at I say that with all humility because even with the level of success we enjoy today with the Report Card, it's still not used to its full potential But we are getting better, and the Report Card has lasted longer than any other reporting tool our organization has used to date

To succeed at this challenge while keeping to the principles and values I've laid out so far in this book was evenwith a mandate (perhaps one of the worst ways to implement any specific improvement effort because it removes the chance for ”buy-in” of the workforce), required a ram that would have benefit to the data owners, the executive requesting the answers, as well as all the people in between

Along with a ful information to all levels, I wanted it to be easy to understand and require as little translation between levels as possible

As I've written earlier, you can't do this on your own It would have been impossible for me to succeed at this by e for one person, but because I wouldn't be able to obtain buy-in on my own The service providers wouldn't buy in and believe how the information would (and wouldn't) be used if I didn't involve theement wouldn't buy in to the idea that whatever solution I developed was going to work, since I was already a ner) is accepted in his own village So I ended up with a team of outside consultants, myself, and heavy involvement of each service provider

Concept

First, you , ”Why a Report Card and not a Scorecard? After all,the a scorecard The scorecardulation), but the areas were not even within the same family of measures (see Answer Key) The other problem was that Scorecardswith effectiveness ones Without a doubt, I wanted to stay in the Service/Product Health area, since I'd be working hard to break through enough barriers without fighting the war that would ensue with efficiency measures

What I liked about the scorecard (and dashboards) was the combination of measures to tell a fuller picture That fits the definition of a metric rather than just a bunch of measures

But think about the na ”who's winning” In the fall of 2011, I watched the University of Notre Daa was that Notre Daory, and not by just a little Offensively, defensively, all categories except one: turnovers In the end, the only statistic that matters is the final score, and that is deterh other measures

So, the scorecard will tell you quickly who is winning, and who has won It won't tell you, though, who is perfor better in specific areas A fanwith the equivalents of the coaching staff The offensive, defensive, and special tea backs, receivers, and linebackers coaches would all want to kno their units were perfor

I wanted the best of both I wanted a final score and indicators of the quality of performance that led to that score

What we came upon is the concept of a Report Card This e report card, where the student receives feedback throughout the year on hoell his education is progressing There are quizzes, tests, and papers to be graded At periodic intervals (rades are levied Based on the feedback the student knows if he is doing well, if he needs to i expectations

In each case, the organization, like the student, has decisions to h to celebrate the exceptional grades (A+) and denigrate any poor grades It requires more information before a decision can be made Was the A+ obtained at the expense of a different subject? What is the benefit for the A+ over an A or even a B? Is the poor grade in a subject that the student needs/actually wants? Can the class be dropped? Is it required for the major?

For our purposes, we treated the metric we developed in the saher-than-expected grades, we only want the following results: Those that don't require more than an acceptable effort (for exa other subjects or the student is burning the )

The student obtained the grades without ”cheating” In the organizational context, cheating equates to doing things outside the acceptable standards, policies, or processes

The student earned the grades We don't want grades that were not earned-positive or negative The metric should reflect the performance of the service frorades that fall below expectations (the failure of a quiz or test, for exa: Was the failure due to an avoidable circu the required work, or a lack of prerequisite coursework?