Episode Details

Stacey Barr: Practical Performance Measurement

Stacey Barr is a specialist in strategic performance measurement and evidence-based leadership. She is the creator of PuMP®, a performance measurement methodology that routinely transforms measurement cynics into its greatest advocates.

Stacey is also the author of two books, Practical Performance Measurement: Using the PuMP® Blueprint for Fast, Easy, and Engaging KPIs*, and Prove It!: How to Create a High Performance Culture and Measurable Success*.

In this conversation, Stacey and I discussed some of the common mistakes that leaders and organizations make with performance measurement. We also explore what well-formulated performance measures have. Plus, Stacey has kindly made her book available for free to our listening audience.

Key Points

Common mistakes in performance measurement:

• Initiatives are not performance measures
• Events or milestones are not performance measures
• Measures of activity completion are not performance measures
• Sources of data are not performance measures
• A few vague words don’t make a performance measure

Well-formulated performance measures have:

• A method of comparison that we can use to tell whether performance is good or not
• A base of objective evidence that gives a reasonably accurate and reliable picture of current performance
• A sufficient degree of granularity to detect small but important changes in performance to which we should respond
• Relevance to the organization’s priorities
• The ability to show changes in performance levels over time, giving us enough context to avoid short-sightedness

Resources Mentioned

• Download a free copy of Stacey’s book, Practical Performance Measurement
• The PuMP® Approach to Performance Measurement and KPIs

Book Notes

Download my highlights from Practical Performance Measurement in PDF format (free membership required).

Related Episodes

• How to Actually Move Numbers, with Chris McChesney (episode 294)
• How to Leverage People Analytics, with Jenny Dearborn (episode 323)
• The Truth and Lies of Performance Management, with Michael Bungay Stanier (episode 361)

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