Leadership Tools - Operational Measurements

The most important reason for measuring performance is to improve performance. When upper level measurements indicate that there is need for improvement, they rarely are measuring at the level of detail necessary to pinpoint root cause and guide an action plan. Operational Measurements, transitory by nature, serve the purpose of seeing past the layers of symptoms to make visible the root cause(s). This course is designed to engage the class in learning the leadership and problem-solving skills of identifying the probable causes of operational performance problems and then determining how to measure each cause directly or indirectly with the goal of isolating true causes in order to take preventive or corrective action. The class will apply their learning to define the performance attributes that will lead to achieving the business and then they will develop the appropriate measurements of metrics to quantify those performance attributes. These measurements initially answer the questions Why are we having this problem, where is the problem concentrated, what are the major causes, etc.? relative to those issues impacting the achievement of organizational objectives. When improvement steps have been taken, these measurements show progress toward the improvement target. When sustained improvement is evident, the frequency of measurement can be reduced or even stopped. Upon completion of this course participants will be able to design and implement operational measurements. The companys managerial measurements and defined problems and objectives will be used in the course to provide a practical application of the acquired knowledge.