Press Business

The key to success is MEASUREMENT

Measurement done right can transform your organisation. It can not only show you where you are now, but can get you to wherever you want to go. Measurement is fundamental to high performance, improvement, and, ultimately, success in business, or in any other area of human endeavor.

Stop wasting your precious time and make time for measurement

In your role, you likely work with others to help them develop and increase performance in your company. You will need to create measures to help execute their strategy and to reach their goals. Many people have found the information just enough to make the difference they wanted in their organizations’ performance measures.

Measuring what matters is more important than most things we do.

Here are 21 ideas for how to become more conscious of what you can stop doing, in order to make the time for performance measurement.

1. Stop reporting measures that no-one uses. Be daring – stop reporting what you know isn’t being used, and if anyone notices, use it as an opportunity to start a conversation about how to decide what is worth measuring and reporting.

2. Reduce your time in meetings. Meetings always take longer than they need to. The big time wasters are tangents, people arriving late and violent agreements that mistakenly sound like useful debates. Start on time, finish early and diplomatically manage the discussion.

3. Reduce the number of meetings you attend. Agree only to meetings that have a clear purpose that is aligned to your role and responsibilities. Don’t go to meetings out of obligation or interest alone.

4. Rank your priorities and drop the bottom 10. List your tasks, both what you are doing and what you should be doing, and rank them in order of importance. Simply stop doing the bottom 10 – they are likely to have consequences far less than failing to measure what matters.

5. Design your weekly schedule to make time for measurement. Set a regular time in your diary that you block out for measurement related activities, and then put the remainder of your tasks around that. Like Stephen Covey explains, put the big rocks (the important stuff) in first and you’ll fit more of the smaller rocks in anyway.

6. Bring up measurement in corridor conversations and existing meetings. Don’t wait for measurement time. Use natural conversations that have even minor relevance to performance and results as an opportunity to talk about measures that matter.

7. Hold yourself accountable. Set yourself progress goals for choosing, creating and using measures, and reward yourself when you achieve them.

8. Get others to hold you accountable. Agree progress goals with your manager or colleagues or customers for choosing, creating and using measures. Set regular check-in time with them to pat you on the back – or face the music.

9. Stop initiatives that are only treating symptoms. If you’re giving time to projects or initiatives that aren’t working, or aren’t fixing root causes of performance problems, stop the process and design a new one that incorporates measurement of root causes.

10. Save time by stopping when it’s good enough. Stop over processing whatever you do, and get clear about the point at which you’ve done what will work, and don’t waste time gold-plating it.

11. Create a measurement mastermind group. Find like-minded people in your organisation and meet for lunch once a month to move through each other’s measurement challenges by sharing ideas and experiences.

12. Write yourself a compelling vision for measurement. Be clear about what you want to achieve with performance measurement by painting a picture of success, in sensory rich detail. Read this vision every day.

13. Outsource or delegate your low value tasks. Stop doing your own document formatting, internet research, meeting organisation and filing. If you can write a simple instruction for how to do it, then delegate it to graduate assistants, administrative assistants or even outsource to a virtual assistant.

14. Scale back your scope of what to measure. Just start by meaningfully measuring one area of performance, or one team’s goals. You don’t need to start with the utopian corporate measurement framework.

15. Motivate yourself and others with success stories. Research organisations that have done measurement well, and are successful on account of it. Try Harvard Business Review, Balanced Scorecard Institute, APQC and Australian Business Excellence Awards case studies.

16. Practice saying no. Take a chance and just try it. Say no to something you don’t believe is a good use of your time, or that is of lower importance than measurement of performance.

17. Avoid the office photocopier and water fountain. Avoid getting caught up in office chit-chat by avoiding the locations where it happens, and by practicing escape strategies that release you quickly if you do get caught. There are better ways to build the relationships that matter.

18. Deter interruptions with crime scene tape. Physical markers are a fun way to let people know when you really want to focus on what you’re doing. Remember to turn off your phone and automatic email checking too.

19. Save time on existing tasks by using blocks. Group related tasks together – like writing, or making phone calls – and block out chunks of time in your diary to get through them. It’s faster and easier to stay focused.

20. Negotiate with your manager on the relative priority of measurement. Make it clear with your manager how important measurement is relative to your other tasks, and reminds and helps them to actively support this decision.

21. Share these tips with others you want to involve in measurement. Just send them a copy or share them in conversation, so they too can find more time for the important performance measurement activities.

BONUS TIP: Learn how to do measurement right, the first time. Don’t waste more time by doing measurement in the old ways of brainstorming and making do with traditional measures and existing data. Create and follow a performance measurement process that works.

TAKE ACTION

From these 21 ideas, choose 3 things you can do now to stop doing what is less important than measuring performance.

Be loyal to these 3 things you choose, and try it for 6 months time. You will see improvement in your ability to not only perform within your organisation, but you will have more time and surplus of energy to make efforts in creating measures for productivity and reaching the goals set out for your organisation.

Then after 6 months, try to pick another 3 ideas, and implement them into your way of working. You will now see that your ability to influence the organisation strategy to reach the goals set up, and even begin to influcence setting of the vision of the organisation.

Start today, and create a new future, not only for yourself, but for people around you.

 

 

Since a personal credit card provides us with the means to make life easier and more enjoyable, can you imagine what a merchant credit card account can do for your business? This type of account is more than just a line of credit. It is an entire service package that offers support to help your company flourish and grow. Of course, as with any other type of credit account, it is important to use it responsibly. The first step toward obtaining this type of financial and technical support is to submit an application.

Finding a merchant credit card account company is not hard at all. You just have to check with bankers in your area to see if they provide this service and are willing to work with you. Barring that route, you can do an online Internet search to find merchant account providers who are accepting new clients. There are plenty of banks and professional lenders who are looking for entrepreneurs to work with. They often will take a chance on new business owners if they think you have the potential to become a trusted client. But first you will need to pass muster by demonstrating your company’s capabilities in a few distinct areas. One is that you have a solid credit history and are not in bankruptcy. A copy of your company’s credit history should be adequate proof for this requirement. A second criterion is that your business has enough income to meet the new expenses of a merchant account. Bank statements or an annual report should help with this concern. Another thing the lender will want to know is the type of business you are doing. If you traffic in pornography, are engaged in telemarketing, or have left a trail linking your company to some unsavory dealings, the underwriter may decline your application. Conditions can vary; so ask about the eligibility requirements before applying.

The next step toward applying for a merchant credit card account is to submit the application. Some lenders provide an online form that you can submit electronically, although you may be charged a fee for this privilege. Other loan agents will let you download a print application that you can complete in ink and mail by U.S. post. Either way, you will probably receive a response to your application within a few days by e-mail or in a letter. If your application is accepted, you can immediately begin to use your credit line and service package to set up a credit card processing system. Working with an account associate, you can arrange to install a credit card processor at your store’s checkout area. Or you can buy a wireless model for several hundred dollars and take it with you on the road when you service computers or appliances, or make deliveries to homes or businesses. Discuss the applications of your new merchant account with the loan officer to clarify limits and equipment options for your company’s use.

You won’t be able to enjoy the use of merchant services until you apply for them, so ask your preferred lender about the application process for a merchant credit card account.