Measuring Workplace Performance

Most Fortune 1000 companies still struggle with workspace planning and design issues. They invest millions of dollars each year with the expectation that new buildings and major renovations will help transform their culture, support innovation, strengthen desired behaviors and increase organizational effectiveness. And let's not forget reducing cos

As performance management becomes better integrated into businesses, attitudes and approaches to it are evolving. Through case studies and detailed practice examples from leading international organizations, this text addresses the increasing demand for managers in all sectors to manage and measure staff performance.

This is the digital version of the printed book (Copyright © 1996). Based on an award-winning doctoral thesis at Carnegie Mellon University, Measuring and Managing Performance in Organizations presents a captivating analysis of the perils of performance measurement systems. In the book’s foreword, Peopleware authors Tom DeMarco and Timothy Lister rave, “We believe this is a book that needs to be on the desk of just about anyone who manages anything.” Because people often react with unanticipated sophistication when they are being measured, measurement-based management systems can become dysfunctional, interfering with achievement of intended results. Fortunately, as the author shows, measurement dysfunction follows a pattern that can be identified and avoided. The author’s findings are bolstered by interviews with eight recognized experts in the use of measurement to manage computer software development: David N. Card, of Software Productivity Solutions; Tom DeMarco, of the Atlantic Systems Guild; Capers Jones, of Software Productivity Research; John Musa, of AT&T Bell Laboratories; Daniel J. Paulish, of Siemens Corporate Research; Lawrence H. Putnam, of Quantitative Software Management; E. O. Tilford, Sr., of Fissure; plus the anonymous Expert X. A practical model for analyzing measurement projects solidifies the text–don’t start without it!

HANDBOOK of IMPROVING PERFORMANCE IN THE WORKPLACE Volume 3: Measurement and Evaluation Volume Three of the Handbook of Improving Performance in the Workplace focuses on Measurement and Evaluation and represents an invaluable addition to the literature that supports the field and practice of Instructional Systems Design. With contributions from leading national scholars and practitioners, this volume is filled with information on time-tested theories, leading-edge research, developments, and applications and provides a comprehensive review of the most pertinent information available on critical topics, including: Measuring and Evaluating Learning and Performance, Designing Evaluation, Qualitative and Quantitative Performance Measurements, Evidence-based Performance Measurements, Analyzing Data, Planning Performance Measurement and Evaluation, Strategies for Implementation, Business Evaluation Strategy, Measurement and Evaluation in Non-Profit Sectors, among many others. It also contains illustrative case studies and performance support tools. Sponsored by International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI), the Handbook of Improving Performance in the Workplace, three-volume reference, covers three core areas of interest including Instructional Design and Training Delivery, Selecting and Implementing Performance Interventions, and Measurement and Evaluation.

It's no secret that you can't improve your organization's performance without measuring it. In fact, every function, unit, process, and the organization as a whole, is built and run according to the parameters and expectations of its measurement system. So you'd better make sure you're doing it right. All too often, performance measurement creates dysfunction, whether among individuals, teams, or across entire divisions and companies. Most traditional measurement systems actually encourage unhealthy competition for personal gain, creating internal conflict and breeding distrust of performance measurement. Transforming Performance Measurement presents a breakthrough approach that will not only significantly reduce those dysfunctions, but also promote alignment with business strategy, maximize cross-enterprise integration, and help everyone to work collaboratively to drive value throughout your organization. Performance improvement thought leader Dean Spitzer explains why performance measurement should be less about calculations and analysis and more about the crucial social factors that determine how well the measurements get used. His ""socialization of measurement"" process focuses on learning and improvement from measurement, and on the importance of asking such questions as: How well do our measures reflect our business model? How successfully are they driving our strategy? What should we be measuring and not measuring? Are the right people having the right measurement discussions? Performance measurement is a dynamic process that calls for an awareness of the balance necessary between seemingly disparate ideas: the technical and the social aspects of performance measurement. For example, you need technology to manage the flood of data, but you must make sure that it supports the people who will be making decisions and taking action crucial to your organization's success. This book shows you how to design that technical-social balance into your measurement system. While it is urgent to start taking action now, transforming your organization's performance measurement system will take time. Transforming Performance Measurement gives you assessment tools to gauge where you are now and a roadmap for moving, with little or no disruption, to a more "transformational" and mature measurement system. The book also provides 34 TMAPs, Transformational Measurement Action Plans, which suggest both well-accepted and "emergent" measures (in areas such as marketing, human resources, customer service, knowledge management, productivity, information technology, research and development, costing, and more) that you can use right away. In the end, you get what you measure. If you measure the wrong things, you will take your company farther and farther away from its mission and strategic goals. Transforming Performance Measurement tells you not only what to measure, but how to do it -- and in what context -- to make a truly transformational difference in your enterprise.

Organizations want--and need--to track the changes in their overall performance. And the divisions, units, teams, and individuals within these organizations engage in similar success measurement. Performance Measurement explains the importance of regularly monitoring your group's performance and introduces formal measurement practices. You'll learn to Apply a disciplined process to performance measurement Set targets and communicate data effectively Use performance management as a coaching and development tool Meet Your Mentor Robert S. Kaplan is Baker Foundation Professor at the Harvard Business School and Chairman of the Practice Leadership Committee of Palladium, Executing Strategy. He has authored or coauthored 14 books, 18 Harvard Business Review articles, and more than 120 other papers. The Pocket Mentor series offers immediate solutions to the challenges managers face on the job every day. Each book in the series is packed with handy tools, self-tests, and real-life examples to help you identify strengths and weaknesses and hone critical skills. Whether you're at your desk, in a meeting, or on the road, these portable guides enable you to tackle the daily demands of your work with greater speed, savvy, and effectiveness.