A Framework for Performance Metrics

by Ben Boldt, Founder and Lead Consultant

Visionary Solution Resources, Inc.

It is interesting to observe that while performance metrics are a basic component for both team and players in every sport there are relatively few metrics used in the World’s competitive arena of business.  Yes, earning per share, ROI, market share are familiar terms in business.  But take a walk to the shipping dock, mail room or accounting office and ask – “what are your performance metrics?” and you will probably be overcome by the silence.

In sports, it is “expected” to know the won/loss record of every team in any sport – Football, Basketball, Baseball, Hockey, etc.  Not only is the each team’s record readily known, but the “performance” of most players on every team is quantified and measured in some way – TD passes, average yards per carry, tackles, fumbles, penalties, batting average, ERA, errors, stolen bases, strikeouts, three point conversions, minutes played, turnovers, shots on goal, goals allowed – the list is endless! 

These statistics are not only known by team owners, coaches and players, they are seen on TV and made available to the public in the sports pages of every newspaper everyday of the season.

At season end, team management evaluates the team’s record AND the each player’s statistics to “sets goals” for the future.  As the “new” season approaches, spring training or training camps are used to review past performance, set team and player goals and determine what to work on to achieve a higher – and measurable – level of performance during the new season.

Why can’t the sports world mindset be used in the business world?  Why isn’t there an annual “training camp” to bring the team together to learn new plays, practice the fundamentals and set new goals?

Could an approach that has been in use with sports teams for decades be applied to the competitive arena of world business?  I think the answer is YES! 

The key, which is well defined in sports, is determining how to “keep score” in the more complex business organization. Each organization will have different ways to keep score based on the industry in which they “compete” and what products or services they provide their customers.  In football, the offensive and defensive units have statistics that, when achieved, puts the winning score on the board.

 In business, score keeping “values” must be established for each “process team” contributing to the company’s ability “to score”.  To do this, the processes driving the “score” must be defined and the staff supporting each processes identified. This creates “process teams” responsible for executing the plays that will achieve the results of their process. Unlike many team sports, however, there is likely to be many more process teams, not just an offensive and a defensive unit, in the game.  The trick is to get everyone on a team. 

So where do you start?  The sports team starts each year with a “training camp” of some kind.  During camp, players are evaluated, plays practiced and performance expectations – metrics – established for the team and its players.  In business, the “training camp” should be a critical self-assessment gained through an in-depth strategic planning process.  The self assessment becomes the foundation for a “strategy” from which will flow the “score keeping’ values, the identification of critical business processes and process teams putting the score on the board. 

With strategy, processes and process teams established, creating a spirit of “always better, never best” through out the organization will be management’s continuing challenge.

While Tiger Woods’ statistics establish him as the “best” golfer on the planet, there is little doubt of his commitment to get “better” every day.  His statements after lifting the winner’s trophy usually include something along the lines of “It a win, but I am working on getting better”!

No matter where you start, you must strive to get better ----- and better and better and better!

A helpful tool through which process metrics can be established is benchmarking.  For more on benchmarking    READ