Report Less and Know More
How would you describe reporting in your organisation?
When we consult with an organisation, we begin with this question. We ask them about their reporting culture, how it actually manifests and the consequences of this for them.
The answers we get are revealing and varied, coalescing around some of the following:
· High effort
· Too much
· Not clear what the purpose is for all the reports
· Often redundant
· Waste of time
Despite these negatives, many organisations seem to have an addiction to reporting, spending a substantial amount of time and energy reporting metrics, KPIs and other data.
So, why do we do this? Peter Drucker is often quoted as saying “if you can't measure it, you can't improve it.” Although he did not actually say this, it is probably something that he would agree with and is something that most leaders of business would also buy in to. Measurement is everywhere and used well can be a fantastic tool to create results. It is required not just for leadership but overall governance of an organisation.
The KelAk Key also requires reporting, in fact, a key reason for its success is in the quality, simplicity and follow up on key monthly metrics. Where it differs from the norm, breaking the mould and being very radical, is the fact that only a few metrics are reported on.
The KelAk Key is paradoxical, it reduces reporting down to literally a handful of metrics, breaking the dependency on over reporting and in doing so it provides a greater understanding of what is going on. By precision focussing on just a few metrics the organisation re-gears, becomes centred, revolving around the most important things rather than its efforts dispersed and unaligned.
As we have developed and evolved the KelAk Key, we have become both more courageous and convinced that reporting monthly (beyond the basic financial numbers) just two or three critical metrics, based on breakthrough objectives, creates a business environment that is agile, effective and that become super-aligned.
Reporting less is akin to a pebble being dropped into a still pool of water, where the ripples are clear and experienced by all. This is contrasted to the typical situation, where a multiple of pebbles are thrown into an increasingly turbulent pool, resulting in no-one is clear of what is actually going on.
So, if you are looking to get your organisation to move forward, if you are stuck and can’t get the change to happen, then maybe the KelAk Key is for you.
www.kelakconsulting.com