Performance Matters Matrix – Tracking

Performance Tracking creates value by reassuring when all is well and alerting when all is not. The purpose of Performance Tracking is to know where one is and how one is proceeding in relationship to one’s intended goals so that timely decisions can be made and actions taken to assure that goal achievement will be inevitable. Tracking takes place in the Performance Matrix at the intersection of strategic information and behaving with integrity. 

Performance is behaviorally driven. Favorable behaviors and performance need reinforcing and unfavorable need correcting. Both require feedback that is timely and focused for effective decisions and countermeasures to be taken.  Tracking is effectively the business equivalent of proprioception in the human body.

Tracking should not be seen as either passive or punitive but rather as a tool for performance assurance and improvement designed to elicit management response in a timely fashion.  

Tracking systematically samples and reports on the status of the 15 – 20 Performance Standards previously discussed. Computerization facilitates data collection and enables automated presentation, interpretation, and distribution.  Performance Tracking is not intended to provide simple answers but rather to provoke meaningful questions at critical times.

"Numbers have a way of taking a man by the hand and leading him down the path of reason." - Pythagoras

Practices that operate without performance standards and tracking essentially fly blind and predictably under perform. Like a GPS navigation system, managers are prompted to reliably make the right decisions at the right time.

Performance reporting is not something that is done annually or even monthly. To be effective it is critical that the right information be reviewed and acted upon at least weekly. When executed correctly, Tracking enables managers to move beyond reacting to the urgent to instead proactively manage the important.

Of course Tracking has no value if managers refuse accountability, delay decisions, or fail to take prudent action - a situation that is surprisingly common. 

With Performance Tracking implemented, management is empowered to assume more of a strategic role by focusing on Performance Auditing – assuring that Performance Standards and Tracking remain relevant in a constantly changing environment…

All The Best!

Bob

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Performance Builders