One of earliest tools I learned how to use growing up on a farm was a tape measure. There are several reasons for that. It is often used, using it won’t hurt you (think hammer, saw or torch!), and my Dad carried a small one in his pocket. As a boy, emulating Dad was always a good idea.
I don’t use a tape measure every day now, and you may not either, but the idea of measuring progress and success is at least as important to us as leaders as the tape measure is to a carpenter or designer. Yet, while most organizations ask their employees to set goals and provide tools and guidance to set them, there is less support and tools for measuring progress towards those goals.
That’s where I come in. What follows are six tangible things that you can do to support and help your team reach its goals by measuring progress towards them.
Set Clear Targets
All goals should be specific and measurable, period. If you want employees to reach any goal, make sure that they know exactly what to do, how to do it, and the outcome you expect. If any of that is unclear, they likely won’t hit their goals.
Back to our tape measure analogy: To use one successfully, you must know the starting point and the destination point. The same is true for the goals you set. Once the target is clear, you can begin to measure progress.
Evaluate Results and Process
For some goals, it’s easy to measure progress, for example, a sales or revenue target, because you have the numbers to gauge progress. However, not all goals are that easily quantified, and that is often where leaders struggle. Even if the goal is hard to measure, it doesn’t mean you can’t or shouldn’t measure it.
Set targets for, and measure against, the process if you can’t directly or easily measure the result. For example, a results measure for a salesperson might be revenue, and a process measure might be the number of sales calls the salesperson made. The number of calls made doesn’t automatically equate to hitting a revenue target, but it is an important component of reaching that goal, and is certainly worth measuring.
Review Regularly
While regular reviews may not be exactly about measuring progress per se, it is a critical component of greater goal achievement. The more often people review their goals, and the more often they are reminded of their targets, the more progress they will make. The time invested in reviewing goals pays big dividends, and as a leader, you are the point person for making it happen.
Make it Public
You’ve likely seen those progress charts for charity events that calculate in real-time the amount of money the event has raised. The public display of progress does two things: it informs people and it encourages them to contribute to the overall goal. You can use the same approach with your team.
If you have a team of people working toward the same goal, post the targets and weekly or monthly progress in a public place. Doing so will prompt people who are slipping behind to be a bit more disciplined and focused and move themselves up the leaderboard.
Track Trends
Static measures of progress are great, but often people look at daily, weekly or monthly numbers and don’t look at the trends. Looking at individual numbers is fine, but when you put them in context by charting progress over the days, weeks or months, you’ll see the bigger picture and a more realistic view of everyone’s progress.
Project Outcomes
Since you will be looking at trends, the next logical step is to project where you will end up. If you are at 80% of your goal in April, it is likely you will make your goal, but how much might you surpass it and what new target should you set? Are there circumstances or seasonal issues that you need to take into account? When employees see that they might miss goals, they’ll put in the extra effort to reach them, and establishing new goals ensures that your team doesn’t coast at the end of the year.
None of those steps are as simple as pulling out a tape measure, but they are powerful ways for you to make sure you are getting the results you want and maximizing the potential and effort of your team members.
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