| There are no professional guidelines (yet) which define | | | | of meetings with teams to plan and implement various |
| what it means to be a Performance Measurement | | | | aspects of the performance measures system. |
| Practitioner - not like there are for Accountants, | | | | There are several ways you'll know you have these |
| Project Managers, Finance Officers and Engineers. So | | | | skills too: |
| there's little wonder that there are so many talented | | | | - taken a presentation skills course |
| and capable performance measurement practitioners | | | | - learned how to engage an audience through the |
| out there who are underselling themselves. | | | | failures and successes of your personal experience |
| Are you one of them? Find out with this quiz: | | | | - role-modeled a manager or other colleague with |
| Q1: How much of your time do you spend - or should | | | | great presentation/facilitation skills |
| you spend - on performance measurement activities? | | | | - get regular feedback from people in your "audiences" |
| Performance Measurement (PM) Practitioners routinely | | | | on your great presentation style |
| spend at least 40% of their work time devoted to a | | | | Q5: Can you speak about performance measures in a |
| broad range of performance measurement activities, | | | | way that engages your colleagues? |
| including the selection of measures aligned to strategy, | | | | PM Practitioners work with internal client teams to |
| collection and collation of performance data, analysis | | | | design and implement the organisation's performance |
| and reporting of performance, interpreting and using | | | | measures system - they don't do it on their own! So |
| performance measures to improve performance. | | | | they must be able to engage their colleagues to |
| If you spend a good deal of your time on at least half | | | | commit to implementing the performance measure |
| of the following activities, then you very likely should be | | | | process with them. |
| calling yourself a PM Practitioner: | | | | You get a 'yes' to this quiz question if you have: |
| - data collation | | | | - offered advice on performance measurement that |
| - performance report production | | | | your colleagues acted on |
| - designing or developing performance dashboards | | | | - opened people's minds to what good measurement |
| scorecards | | | | means, and why it matters, through your conversations |
| - performance data analysis | | | | with them |
| - helping people choose KPIs/measures | | | | - offered to facilitate meetings with people to help |
| - linking KPIs/measures to strategy | | | | them with measures, and they accepted |
| - explaining or teaching performance measurement | | | | - given feedback to colleagues on their measures, |
| concepts to colleagues | | | | which was openly received and considered |
| - using performance measures to guide performance | | | | - often been sought out for advice or tips or resources |
| improvement projects/activities | | | | to do with performance measures |
| Q2: Have you had some exposure to structured | | | | Q6: Do you feel passionate about performance |
| performance measurement methodologies? | | | | measurement? |
| PM Practitioners will have at least a rudimentary | | | | PM Practitioners have a passion for performance |
| working knowledge of one or more formally structured | | | | measuresand the profound transformation it can |
| and tested performance measure approaches, such | | | | effect for an organisation. They also have a passion |
| as the Balanced Scorecard, the Six Sigma Scorecard, | | | | for learning and refining their capability, as a significant |
| the Performance Prism, PuMP® or the | | | | component of their career path. |
| Performance Measure Blueprint(TM). | | | | You know you have the passion when you: |
| This means that you: | | | | - collect books, articles, newsletters and websites on |
| - have read the book or done the course to learn the | | | | performance measurement for your personal library |
| approach | | | | (and read them!) |
| - have lead, been involved or witnessed close-hand the | | | | - find yourself automatically asking people when they |
| implementation of the approach | | | | talk about goals, "And how will you measure your |
| - can successfully describe how this approach works | | | | success with that?" |
| to a colleague | | | | - feel a surge of motivation and inspiration when you |
| Q3: Can you design and implement simple business | | | | are reminded of how organisations have been |
| projects? | | | | transformed by measuring the right stuff |
| PM Practitioners need to have reasonable project | | | | - develop your own little systems to help you with |
| management skills and experience, because managing | | | | measuring performance, like your own KPI library, |
| a performance measurement implementation, and a | | | | templates and ready-to-go PowerPoints |
| corporate performance management system, needs | | | | Just like any quiz, the value is not in right or wrong |
| planning of tasks, milestones and resources. | | | | answers. The value comes from considering the |
| You'll have gotten this skill if you have: | | | | questions and seeing what comes up for you. So, how |
| - been a project manager | | | | do you feel NOW about having what it takes to be a |
| - worked in a small project team on a project that | | | | performance leader, or Performance Measurement |
| was well-managed | | | | Practitioner? |
| - taken a project management course | | | | TAKING ACTION: |
| - lead a group of people through the steps to define, | | | | What value would being a Performance Measurement |
| analyse, design, implement and successfully achieve a | | | | Practitioner have for your career? Start with |
| solution to a problem | | | | describing yourself in your ideal role 3 to 5 years from |
| Q4: Are you confident with your presentation and | | | | now, and then describe how you got there. You'll be |
| facilitation skills? | | | | surprised how powerful it is to plan from the end-point |
| PM Practitioners need to feel confident with presenting | | | | looking backward, compared with the traditional |
| to groups, and also managing group interactions and | | | | approach of planning from the start-point looking |
| dynamics in workshop settings, because they run a lot | | | | forward! |