Establish Accountability - Establish metrics
Being able to identify clear metrics at the beginning gives you an understanding of when you have met you goal at the end. Have you ever heard the saying, “Without metrics you cannot measure, and without measures you cannot manage?” How, today, do you know what good looks like? If this question has you stumbling for an answer, you need to set up SMART metrics. That is, metrics that are:
- Simple
- Measureable
- Achievable
- Relevant
- Time bound.
I already mentioned the drastic improvement in performance when we simply informed a team we were tracking their success rate on changes. The same is true for metrics; once you have them in place, it help define what’s important, and keeps people on track. When working to establish accountability, you have to aim to drive out ambiguity, and having clear measures in place does just that. I am a firm believer that you should use just enough project management to ensure the project makes its metrics, and no more. Once when dealing with a senior engineer who was dragging his feet on a project, I inquired if he would like me to sit with him and detail every task that needed completing. I did this with junior staff, and could manage his time for him if he really was not going to hit the dates. He countered that he did not understand the value in what he was being asked to do, and we debated the merits of the project. He finally grudging agreed that we would proceed. We established weekly deadlines for him to work toward over a three week schedule. At the end of the project, he even more grudgingly agreed that without the weekly deadline, he would never have gotten started. So make sure you understand your people and the context, and then give the metrics to track against. When you are comfortable with your metrics, publish them to your customers. I know this sounds insane, but by communicating what you are tracking against, you help build trust and accountability.
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