Leading Performance Management

Efforts

Walking the Walk & Talking the Talk

Betsy Bury Management Measures, LLC

bbury@managementmeasures.com September 21, 2012

Biggest Challenge in Performance Management: Ensuring

Data Are Used

Many PM efforts have fallen short because they are not able to institutionalize use of the data

Selecting indicators and collecting data is fairly straightforward and can be delegated to specific staff

Data can be used on an ad hoc or individual basis but fail to catch on as an organizational norm

Finding ways to institutionalize systematic, consistent use to drive improved performance has proven difficult

“Stat” was a major step forward in data use

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Making Performance Management Work

Data must be used for insight to be generated.

Insight must be acted upon for performance to improve.

Unlocking the key to effective use of data is the final frontier in performance management.

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Specific leadership behaviors necessary to ensure data are used effectively in an organization

Required Leadership Behaviors

• Institutionalize use of performance data in standardized, periodic data review sessions

• Demonstrate a problem-solving approach and create tone of continuous improvement rather than “Accountability”

• Communicate effectively about performance management in their organizations.

Senior Leaders

• Participate effectively in reviews; come prepared

• Model effective data use to their own team

• Demonstrate a spirit of continuous improvement to their own team

• Reinforce key performance management related messages from senior leaders

Mid-Level Managers

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Walking the Walk

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Why Standardize Regular Data Review Sessions?

Having regularly scheduled data review meetings is the best way to INSTITUTIONALIZE use

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Eyewitness Effect

• Senior leaders and others in attendance see each other using and reflecting on the data

• Reviewing data in private, 1-on-1 meetings between a manager and a program leader does not offer this demonstration effect

• Sends message that data definitely discussed and valued

Shared Understanding

• More minds help provide a better, richer interpretation of the data

• Jointly “making meaning” of the data helps unite management teams and generate consensus & buy-in for improvement plans

• Sharing the discussion more broadly also makes it more likely that action will be taken; harder to dodge difficult issues

Standardized Schedule

• When the organization as a whole expects data review sessions on a set schedule (e.g. quarterly), the process builds its own momentum and has a better chance of surviving management turnover

Leading a Data Driven Review

Tone is an Issue

• Confrontational, putting people on the spot vs. we’re all in this together, let’s figure it out

• What does “Accountability” mean?

• Humiliation? Fear? Off with their heads!

• Ensure mistakes will never happen again

• Note the issue and make sure everyone knows the leader has seen it and cares

Remember

• Meetings will already seem high stakes for many participants due to senior status of those leading them

• Keep it constructive, collegial, solution-oriented and respectful

• Background conversation getting ready shouldn’t be “get it to me now”… it should be “how can we use these data to improve our results”

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“No one ever got in trouble if the crime rate went up. They got in trouble if they did not know why it had gone up and did not have a plan for dealing with it.”

- Bill Bratton, originator of Compstat

Leadership Behaviors for Maintaining a Productive Tone

Use opening remarks to state your

intentions for the tone of the meeting

Consider adopting formal principles or

norms

If participants inject negativity, gently

refocus the group on problem-solving

Use “we” and “our efforts” as a reminder

that everyone is on the same team

Talk about the program, not the

person

If there are things that are better discussed

privately, off-line, do so

Remember the invisible megaphone that comes with a leadership position

• Anything positive or negative will be amplified

• The degree of magnification is proportional to the number in attendance and the status of the office

• Even expressing “disappointment” might be too negative for some contexts

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Federal HUDStat has Adopted Meeting Principles

• Understand the data is not perfect but will evolve over time. It gives us the basis for the discussion.

• Maintain environment of open and honest dialogue, even with less than perfect results.

• Practice “no surprises” with Program Offices and the Support Operations.

• Limit “show and tell” and expand on problem solving using the collective wisdom and experience in the meeting.

• Maintain a spirit of collaboration while not shying away from issues.

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Talking the Talk

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Leading through Communications: Sharing the Vision

When rolling out Performance Mgmt., share a detailed vision with staff of how the organization will, and will not, use data

• Staff often have concerns that data will be used to identify areas to cut or to punish individuals who make mistakes; union officials are often quite wary

• Avoid “going negative” at all costs, even inadvertently

• One step in a punitive direction can destroy trust and begin to invite gaming of data

• The word “accountability” can be scary to many

• Focus the vision around identifying ways to improve results and deliver taxpayer value

• Invite staff to share their own improvement ideas and provide channels for them to do so

Periodically repeat and reinforce the vision

• Slip simple 1-sentence tag lines around the purpose of performance measures into any messaging where data is used

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Leading through Communications: Referring to Data Often

• Incorporate references to performance data in regular daily

communications wherever appropriate

– Emails about issues, meetings with groups of staff, 1-on-1

conversations at all levels

• Wherever performance news is good, seek out ways to celebrate

those successes

– Reference the actual data points in these communications

• Wherever data identify issues and challenges, refer back to those

data as the source of identify those issues

– Reinforce idea of objective measurement as agenda setter, not

management whim

• Link improvement efforts to data-driven insights

– Refer to data-driven review sessions as a forum for discussing these

insights and developing improvement plans

• Help organization become accustomed to hearing about specific

data points as the common language for discussing performance 12

Leading through Communications: Sharing Data Externally

Both the public and the legislature are interested in knowing if government organizations are achieving their results

• Information can be shared in formal reports and press releases

• Specific data points can also be incorporated into other communications

Sharing performance data can help increase awareness of successes

• It can also strengthen understanding of challenges

Keep explanations of data simple

• Providing a few key metrics consistently is more effective than sharing an overwhelming grab bag of numbers

When sharing data with external audiences, providing enough context for accurate interpretation is critical

• Don’t assume external audiences know how to interpret data; tell them what it means 13

Data Quality Can Be a Major Issue

Leading through Communications: Reinforcing the

Importance of Accuracy

• If they do not think anyone cares, it is easy to become sloppy

• If they think the data may be used punitively, it may invite gaming

Staff involved in collecting data need to understand the importance of accuracy and completeness

• Demonstrate an understanding of data quality issues by periodically asking about definitions and comparability of collection processes across sites

Reinforce the importance of accuracy by mentioning it often and thanking staff for their efforts to ensure accuracy

• Ask Performance Management staff to do formal or informal data quality reviews periodically and make it known that this request has come from you

Solicit feedback about data quality issues and support staff in resolving them or switching to more reliable indicators

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What’s A Mid-Level Manager To Do?

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Participate Effectively in Higher Level Data Reviews

Each Leader has a responsibility to guide their organization’s effective

participation in any data-driven reviews held at higher levels

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Make sure the data being reviewed are reasonably accurate

• Any data limitations are known and disclosed

• Plans for addressing data limitations should be developed

• Plans for revisiting or revising metrics should be in place where needed

Make sure the analysis and understanding of issues is right

• Conduct preliminary reviews with your own team

Make sure there are options identified for how to address any issues

• Know the solutions you want to recommend in advance

Ensure required follow-up actions are completed as promised

• Implement a tracking system to ensure items are delegated and progress monitored

Be a partner in keeping a productive, problem-solving tone

• If you are well-prepared, these reviews can be an excellent time to get support from those up the chain and gain perspective on how to drive performance improvement

Using Data Internally at Middle Levels

• Regularly holding data-driven reviews inside your own organization can improve your own performance

• Actually using the data sends a powerful message to staff

• Signals to staff that data should be collected and analyzed with care

Use it Yourself

• Where leaders do not use the data in their own organizations, while higher levels do, it makes mis-alignment obvious

• Confuses messages to staff around what is important and where they should focus

• Can easily lead to sloppiness in data collection and compilation that sends inaccurate information up the line

Align with

the Top

• The type of data-driven review held inside each organization can be customized to the leadership style of that manager

• More or less formal; more or fewer participants; more or less frequent

• But the existence of these reviews should be known throughout the organization

Do it Your Way

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Mid-Level Communications

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Reinforce key performance management related messages from senior leaders

Share the vision of how organization will use Performance Management

Celebrate the organization’s successes and identify challenges by citing specific data elements in speeches, memos and meetings

Strengthen public and legislative understanding by including performance data in external communications

Reinforce the importance of accurate data

A Final Quote

“The reason [data-driven review] programs are so successful … is

the benefit of, in a systematic way, bringing data and analyses to

bear on a problem to make informed decisions as opposed to

making decisions by anecdote.

This has to be executive driven. It has to be tailored to the chief

executive you’re serving. Otherwise he or she won’t invest the

most precious resource that they have – their time.

And all of [the review’s] power derives from the [leader] choosing to

engage. “

Victor Prince, Director of CapStat in Washington DC

quoted in Thornburgh, David B., Christopher Kingsley, Mateo Rando. "Smart Cities: PerformanceStat at 15: The Case for Performance Management in City Government, Fifteen Years After the Popularization of 'Stat'". Fels Institute of Government. University of Pennsylvania. Philadelphia. October 2010. p. 12. 19