STEP 1: Understanding Measurement’s Purpose
Fixing the focus firmly on continuous improvement as the purpose for measurement.
The PuMP Blueprint starts us off with a self-assessment tool called the PuMP Diagnostic. It’s not really a survey, but rather a discussion tool. It helps our team understand what good measurement means and how to do it properly, avoiding the most common struggles and problems. It plants the seeds of buy-in, it gives us hope that developing the right KPIs is possible, and gets us all ready to start.
STEP 2: Mapping Measurable Results
Translating our strategy into clear, focused and measurable performance results.
It’s so hard to measure the right things. It’s hard to find out whether our strategy (our goals or objectives) is measurable enough. But with the two templates called PuMP Measurability Tests and PuMP Results Map we can make our goals or objectives clear, specific, and easily measurable. This step in PuMP is many people’s favourite because they just can’t believe how much clarity it gives them about their goals.
STEP 3: Designing Meaningful Measures
Choosing the most feasible and relevant measures that evidence our performance results.
It’s vitally important to recognise the traditional approaches that people take to selecting measures, because most of those approaches fail. They fail because they are shortcuts that don’t take us where we want to go. But if we use the PuMP Measure Design template to design measures, it’s logical and easy to create KPIs or measures that evidence our goals, and that are meaningful, relevant, cost effective, and will make it easy for people to buy in.
STEP 4: Building Buy-in to Measures
Getting ownership from our stakeholders, quickly, easily and engagingly.
To avoid the risk of our colleagues and managers not buying in to performance measures we create, we can use the PuMP Measure Gallery technique. It’s the most convenient way to get feedback and input from everyone, without boring them by workshops and presentations and lengthy emails. And it’s an easy and simple way to build buy-in and generate excitement, both for performance measurement in general and for our new measures in particular.
STEP 5: Implementing Measures
Documenting in detail the data, analysis and reporting requirements for each of our measures.
Too many measures are never successfully brought to life (i.e., never reported or used). But when we use the PuMP Measure Definition technique, we bring more of the right measures to life, in the right way. It helps us detail exactly how each of our measures should be calculated and implemented. Gradually, we build a Corporate Performance Measure Dictionary (which is the perfect specification for building a dashboard that’s useful).
STEP 6: Interpreting Signals from Measures
Focusing ourselves on gaps between as-is and should-be performance.
It’s so easy to misinterpret performance measure signals and, frighteningly, most people do misinterpret them. To avoid reacting to the wrong signals, we follow the PuMP Interpreting Measures technique. It’s based on the use of XmR charts. Xmr Charts make the true signals of change in our performance measures easier to see, statistically valid, and incredibly useful for leading us to insight.
STEP 7: Reporting Performance Measures
Creating useful and usable performance reports that inspire us to action.
Typical performance reports are next to useless, even when these reports use the latest and greatest dashboard dials, gauges, and graphs. Instead, we use the PuMP Report Design technique to avoid those typical performance reports. And this technique helps us quickly and easily produce performance reports that answer the three most important questions that every performance report should answer. And it helps us design the report layout in the most digestible way to support our decision making.
STEP 8: Reaching Performance Targets
Improving our business processes to move as-is performance toward should-be.
The role of performance measures is to help us make quick, easy and economical performance improvement. The PuMP Using Measures technique helps our performance teams to make real improvements that last, moving performance closer to meaningful targets.