Tag Archives: performance management

143 – Developing a dashboard for performance measurement. A case study – Part 3.

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Posted by Colin Weatherby                                                                                         750 words

the score

In the first two posts (see here and here) I discuss the requirements for a performance dashboard for my unit, the sources of performance measurement ideas, and the thinking behind creation of that dashboard. This post has the final dashboard.

At the outset I will remind you that purpose of the dashboard is to provide the performance information that I need in real time to be able to drive my unit. It is not intended to measure everything that might be relevant to understanding the performance of the unit. There will need to be other measures. The objective is to have no more than ten ‘dials’ ion the dashboard.

The performance questions that I have selected that are relevant to real time understanding and management of performance are: Continue reading →

140 – Developing a dashboard for performance measurement. A case study – Part 2.

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Posted by Colin Weatherby                                                                         810 words

aircraft cockpit

Some time ago I posted on my approach to developing a dashboard for my unit. I set out the ‘performance questions’ that I could need to answer at any point in time as I ‘drive’ my unit. In this post I apply the ideas of Geary Rummler, Alan Brache, Mark Moore and Christopher Stone to determine measures and lead indicators.

The performance questions identified in my first post are intended to get to the heart of the ‘performance logic’ underpinning performance management of the unit. Understanding the performance logic is an idea from Rummler and Brache. Seeing the performance logic as a series of ‘performance questions’ comes from a handy paper by Bernard Marr on the Advanced Performance Institute website, ‘What are key performance questions’  and how they can be used to engage people in dialogue about performance and guide the design of meaningful performance indicators. Continue reading →

80 – Designing a performance management system. Part 1 – Some tips.

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Posted by Lancing Farrell                                                              430 words

rummler and brache book

There have been several posts on performance (here, here,  here and here). The most recent by Colin Weatherby discussed his approach to developing a ‘dashboard’ for his department. This post is an attempt to consolidate all posts into an integrated performance management system based on the work of Geary A. Rummler and Alan P. Brache in Improving Performance – How to Manage the White Space on the Organisation Chart.

Before getting into the details of how to build a performance management system, it is worth thinking about what you are trying to achieve. From a management perspective, measurement specifically communicates performance expectations. It enables feedback to be provided against a standard and for any gap to be identified and addressed. Continue reading →

58 – Performance appraisal in local government 4/4. What else could we do?

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Posted by Lancing Farrell                                                                              650 words

optimus prime transformer

This is the last post in this series. It is also where things start to get interesting. There are alternatives to performance appraisal the way we have always done it. The difficulty is that most are quite different to the current approach and pursuing them will involve the risks that always accompany change. Are we up for it?

We could just stop using performance appraisals. As Peter R. Scholtes writes in The Leaders Handbook, this would require us to start thinking differently. In essence, this would involve adopting a ‘systems thinking’ approach to managing the organisation. This is likely to require systems to support employee development and promotion, providing feedback for improvement, determining training needs, and performance managing the poor performers.

Scholtes proposes what he calls ‘debundling’ of performance appraisal to focus on each benefit that the performance appraisal system supposedly provides. Continue reading →

56 – Local government performance appraisal 3/4. What can you do in response to the issues?

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Posted by Lancing Farrell                                                                                              530 words

apple and orange

Choices are necessary regarding the role of performance appraisal and how it will be done. I don’t think anyone thinks that performance should not be measured. It is a matter of how you do it.

Peter R. Scholtes points out the fundamental choice facing every organisation very clearly in The Leaders Handbook. What is most important to your organisation – controlling the behaviour of people to the satisfaction of management, or understanding, controlling and improving processes to benefit customers? Continue reading →

52 – Local government performance appraisal 1/4. What are the issues? (or 5 reasons it doesn’t work)

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Posted by Lancing Farrell                                                                             700 words

performance - rowing

This is the first in a series of four posts on performance appraisal. The central idea is that current performance appraisal systems are not effective.

To begin with, the annual performance appraisal process (sometimes called the performance development plan (PDP) or staff development scheme (SDS)) is often not carried out in local government. When it is, people have usually been compelled to do so or they are simply ‘ticking the boxes’ and being compliant. I have often thought that this is important evidence that the process is not helpful. People ‘vote with their feet’ – if they thought that performance appraisal was useful and that it added value, they would be doing it.

Continue reading →