If you were an Olympic athlete, you and your coaches would measure your performance with a variety of data points, including: medals won, performance in past competitions, training statistics, diet, and overall health. All of these together would predict your progress towards (and chances of) winning gold. Assuming, like most of us, you’re on a budget, you would also take into account the monetary and other costs of different strategies. You’d take a holistic and incremental approach with your eyes wide open for signs of success along the way – and use the information you’d gathered to make decisions about your next move.
Or you could close your eyes and wish and wait to become #1.
At ECS, we have a very specific and time-tested performance management approach. It is rooted in the concept that anything can be measured (see our recent article in Texas CEO on this) and that a strong, thoughtful, and living performance management system is the recipe for success.
We know that organizations – especially nonprofits – are balancing diverse and sometimes competing interests. We also know that, at a time when funders and supporters are savvy, budgets are tight, and social issues are increasingly complex, nonprofits that can prove their outcomes and impacts sail above the rest toward their missions and goals.
Getting this proof starts when leaders decide that they will champion a transparent and collaborative culture as well as become an organization open to learning from mistakes and missteps rather than one that is stuck spinning its wheels.
Next, it is critical to create a well-articulated framework, a blueprint that maps out each desired outcome and the indicators of progress. And then making sure everyone who touches the organization knows the ultimate direction and goals and is telling the same story. This includes breaking down a lofty mission into clearly defined bite-sized pieces, assessing them regularly, and using them to drive everyday decisions.
This process does not have to be cumbersome; in our experience, it is eye-opening and exciting when organizational leaders can trust in their ability to quantify and showcase successes and make well-informed decisions to create more or correct failures.
As we see it, a solid framework and system includes a variety of measures, including those of interest to funders or the public as well as internal data on staff and team performance. It is something that everyone knows about and talks about regularly – even brand new staff. The information is easily accessible and everyone receives what is more relevant to their role with the organization. Such a system highlights the full spectrum of an organization’s successes.
Nonprofits are arguably the sector that stands to benefit most from performance management. But all types of organizations – especially nonprofits – need a performance management approach. It keeps everyone ahead of the curve rather than driving blindly into a storm or relying on blind faith.