Measure Things That Make Sense: 6 Data Points Every Leader Should Master
What matters most? What data should you be measuring to make a huge impact?
1. Provide a common language.
Language might seem like a silly thing to measure. But it also may be the most important thing you can track. Are we all understanding the words we use in the same way? Companies are finding ways to provide all employees with the exact same definitions to the exact same words. It’s important that your teams are understanding the same definitions of words as you do.
2. Be only sincere.
Yeah, I understand ‘sincere’ sounds cliché and overcooked. It’s a concept we all understand, yet many (people and organizations) find so difficult to practice. Whether it’s an engagement program, recognition program, or team-building exercise, many employees just don’t believe in sincerity anymore. What’s the issue? Employees aren’t actually believing that their employers honestly care about their wellbeing. If we don’t all start practicing sincerity, people won’t believe any of us about any positive steps we try to take.
3. Understand your impact on the actual recipient of your work.
While many companies, teams, and leaders measure outward-facing data points (sales, customer satisfaction, etc.), many don’t measure internal data points. Yeah, as a leader you might be tasked with performance reviews. But what if that employee’s work doesn’t personally impact you? For example, what if a certain designer is always late at presenting a sales deck to the sales representative who requested it? As a leader, you might simply assume the presentation wasn’t a success. Ask yourself who the recipient of your work is and start tracking the way in which they receive it.
4. Know what failed and discover why.
This might seem like an obvious thing to track—failure. However, the word ‘why’ in this bullet point is the important aspect. For example, if your employee engagement scores are low, you might try to increase them by giving employees more reasons to engage. Makes sense, right? Wrong. If you can’t figure out what’s causing low engagement to begin with, you might be spending pointless resources on a program that won’t work. And if you continue to try to solve the result of a different issue, you’ll just be running in circles.
5. Know what succeeded and always question how it could have been better.
This might sound harsh and like I’m not endorsing celebration. I’m a huge fan of celebrating wins. Celebrate the success, but continue to seek ways to improve—cutting costs, improving efficiency, delighting customers, and keeping your teams excited about the next great achievement you’ll accomplish together. Perfection isn’t a goal. Constant improvement is. Measure the small wins.
6. Focus on improving the wellbeing of yourself and the people around you.
Some people may need a ride to clear their head and get their heart thumping. Some might desire a snowy race down a steep ski hill. Others may enjoy watching a beautiful sunset. And others might prefer a spirited argument. The point is, we are all different. What does that mean? It means if we want to measure things that improve ourselves and the people around us, we need to start measuring the wellbeing of each individual person. We need to know people for who they really are, and we need to care about improving their lives.
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Brief but valuable article.
