Change is inevitable, but it can also be challenging for teams to adapt and perform well. How do you measure your team's progress and success during change and uncertainty? In this article, you will learn about the most effective metrics to measure team performance during change, and how to use them to coach your team and improve their outcomes.
Metrics are essential tools for tracking and evaluating your team's performance during change. They help you to set clear goals, monitor progress, identify gaps, celebrate achievements, and provide feedback. Metrics also help you to communicate your team's value and impact to stakeholders and clients. However, not all metrics are created equal. You need to choose the right ones that align with your team's purpose, vision, and strategy, and that reflect the specific challenges and opportunities of change.
Yes metrics matter to management, leadership, stakeholders et al, but it's more important to recognise the role measurement has in creating internal team belief and momentum, and cultivating a self-management belief in owning the change.
Without a clear definition of progress, negative traits can emerge, like perfectionism. Whilst not negative in itself, it's important to balance brilliance with momentum. Teams need to be able to recognise milestones that don't rest solely on opinion. As a result, metrics are essential to both recognise success and allow the team to move forward.
Metrics matter because it’s gives you a closer look into what you’re trying to see . This helps provide you with data to analyze things on your team and for your team.
When measuring your team's performance during change, there are various metrics you can use depending on your objectives and context. Output metrics, for example, measure the quantity and quality of deliverables such as products, services, or projects. Examples include revenue, customer satisfaction, completion rate, defect rate, or innovation rate. Process metrics measure the efficiency and effectiveness of workflows like how they plan, execute, collaborate, or communicate. Outcome metrics measure the impact and value of deliverables on the organization, customers, or society. Lastly, learning metrics measure the growth and development of skills, knowledge, or capabilities in response to change. Examples include skill acquisition, knowledge retention, feedback quality, or adaptability rate.
In my experience too much focus is on measuring output KPIs too early in the change process. Teams need to get comfortable being uncomfortable first (as the Navy SEALS teach), and so the key KPIs in the initial stages are actually behavioural - are they individually and collectively committing to the team values, culture, roles and processes? I also believe in the power of self-scoring - i.e. that the individuals on the team score themselves and the team as a whole over time. This creates a learned behaviour of taking up both authority and accountability for the successful change. It also allows for tracking and the visualising the change over time.
To choose the most effective metrics for your team, you need to consider factors such as relevance, measurability, actionability, and balance. The metrics should be relevant to your team's goals, vision, and strategy, and should be aligned with the organization's objectives and expectations. They should be measurable, consistent, and comparable over time and across teams. Additionally, the metrics should be actionable and timely so that you can share them with your team and stakeholders regularly and effectively. Lastly, use a mix of different types of metrics that capture the various aspects of your team's performance without using too many or too few metrics that could overwhelm or underrepresent your team.
Once you have chosen the most effective metrics for your team, you need to use them to coach your team and improve their outcomes. To do this effectively, it’s important to communicate the metrics clearly and frequently with your team and stakeholders. Explain why they are important and how they relate to your team's goals and vision. Visual aids, such as charts, graphs, or dashboards, can be used to present the metrics in an engaging way. Additionally, monitor the metrics regularly and track your team's progress and performance. Use benchmarks, targets, or standards to compare your metrics and identify areas of strength and improvement. Data sources such as surveys, interviews, or observations can supplement the metrics and give deeper insights. Celebrate your team's successes based on the metrics, recognize their efforts and contributions with positive feedback or incentives. Lastly, use constructive feedback or training to help your team develop their skills and address any gaps or challenges that you encounter. Experiments, tests, or pilots can be used to try new ideas or solutions.
Periodically reviewing your metrics and evaluating their effectiveness and relevance is essential. Change is dynamic and complex, and your team's performance and context may change over time. Therefore, you must ensure that your metrics are still appropriate and useful for your team by asking yourself the following questions: Are the metrics still relevant to your team's goals, vision, and strategy? Are they still measurable, actionable, balanced, and effective? If the answer to any of these questions is no, revise or replace your metrics with more suitable ones.
Within my team coaching programme we review all the KPIs - behavioural and output - each month in a team coaching session. The data becomes an insight driver for any obstacles the team are experiencing but the critical work done is in supporting the team use their own authority, capabilities and difference to find solutions themselves. Team generated and owned solutions will always drive better performance than top-down decision-making.
In my experience, the most effective KPIs are: KISS (Keep It Simple & Stupid) & SMART. When introducing KPIs, ensure that you have spoken to the team, gathered feedback & inputs. KPIs should never be used to punish the employees, instead this should be used to enhance productivity & performance. Define the objectives of the team, link the KPIs to them. Delegation here is key to hold accountability. Implement a monitoring & feedback mechanism to measure KPIs. Ensure that your team has visibility on their progress. Review and adjust your KPIs based on your business needs.