Peter Drucker famously said that what gets measured, gets managed. I often hear this when working with different business owners and leaders, which on one hand is excellent as we need to be able to measure results to understand how far we are in reaching our goals. However, the dangerous issue which arises so often, is that the things that don’t get measured are simply forgotten and pushed aside as not important.
Think about this scenario. A sales team are measured on sales targets. To them closing sales and hitting that target is the most important action. And rightly so, if you are getting graded and rewarded on a set outcome, then that is what gets attention. It is also a key driver in reaching the business’s overall financial goals. The problem lies however in not what the target is necessarily, but in how the target is achieved. What kind of behaviour is displayed whilst working towards the target? How well does the sales team work together, or is it a survival of the fittest, hunger games situation? Does the conduct of the sales team negatively or positively affect the business culture? Are the set measurements strengthening or weakening your business culture and customer engagement?
When setting measurements, don’t be short-sighted and just think about reaching one goal such as the financial goals. This can become a win-loss situation for you and your team. Think about putting additional measurements in place that will maintain a positive culture within your business, maintain a strong a team spirit, build strong customer relations and eventually strengthen other areas of the business. There is not one silver bullet to achieving overall business success and therefore all factors need to be measured.
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