Measuring What Matters
Subtitle: Reporting: Your Golden Opportunity.
This is the ninth and final installment in the series Measuring What Matters. Links to the entire contents can be found at the end of each article.
“Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.”?[Albert Einstein]
Albert Einstein hit the nail on the head with this quote. It gets to the core of consternation many organizations face when it comes to measuring what matters. I witnessed at both "blue" and "green", pockets of acceptance and resistance to both of these concepts and have opinions of their goodness or badness with respect to enterprise outcomes for products.
1. Counting because one can (bad)
There seems to be a propensity to cram as many pretty pictures with numbers on a dashboard as possible. When product teams take a purposeful approach to metrics report design and have done the hard work setting up the foundation I've mentioned in the previous articles, they will have a myriad of data points available to pull into visualizations. Please don't try to use them all. The more data visualizations on a page the more it takes to understand. This is where the transformation of data to information to knowledge to wisdom occurs; use it to help the consumer make that metamorphosis.
We've all likely heard "If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bull". This is almost always said in jest, but it dawned on me that this actually may be the motivation of some managers. Good reports should never baffle the consumers. They also don't need to dazzle. Just reporting what actually happened is the best way towards continuous improvement. Sometimes the numbers will be less than flattering. This gives the basis for positive action.
I have found that starting with something simple yet meaningful that will anchor conversations around improving product performance at a steady rate is the most impactful way to use KPI and other metrics reports. Starting simply has the benefits of bringing all stakeholders into the conversation and building a common history as you iterate on the narrative and evolve measurements that truly matter.
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2. Finding ways to report on the "uncountable" (good)
I like to amend Einstein's comment to "..., and not everything that counts can be easily counted.”
Team mood and customer satisfaction are two of the more difficult things to measure and there is not instant agreement to what varying numbers could mean when using the measures for improvement. Because it is difficult to count does not mean teams should not try. I have seen the most product and team growth when these more challenging measures are tackled. I've discussed net promoter score (NPS) in previous articles - it is my favorite customer satisfaction measure. Measuring team mood sometimes bubbles up surprising topics that help identify the "thing behind the thing" which is another level of insight that improves product performance in my experience.
I could write a book about other meaningful measures that may be difficult to count but pay dividends when teams put in the effort to do so. The takeaway here is to not dismiss out of hand because they may not be easy. Perhaps I'll delve into this topic in an upcoming series.
Reporting Mechanics
During the entire process of a purposeful metrics initiative, bring your teams together often to determine priorities and targets. Give yourselves the flexibility to change and morph as you learn more. Keep your reports fluid and allow them also to flex as the narrative expands. Chronicle your discussions and plot a roadmap. I like to use a modern web whiteboard tool such as Miro. There are many great products available for this, find the right fit for your org.
Because there are often many systems of record for data points, I like to use a 3rd party reporting tool that can bring many systems of record together in a single pane. At "green" I learned Power BI. At "blue" we used R Studio or Tableau. There are a number of great tools available, again there will be a right fit for your situation, take the time to find it.
Set expectations and follow up with actions that the reports are fluid and will grow as processes that inform them mature. Engage all stakeholders on a regular basis and discuss the journey for continuous improvement. Use the reports as tools to guide progress. When it comes to measuring what matters, try not to get distracted by the "shiny objects" because there are lots of them. The data model and report designs need to be mindful, but they will be meaningless if all stakeholders are not discussing the underlying processes daily!
Measuring What Matters - Series Contents