Measuring Performance and Impact

Now you’re having fun! You have put in the hard work, done your research, designed with nuance, and been executing against your OKRs or objectives. You have built a strong foundation for your initiative, launched it, built interest, and found ideas worth pursuing. But how do you know whether the actions you and the initiative’s teams and allies are taking are having the impact you desire? More importantly, how can you demonstrate the initiative’s value and progress to stakeholders, leaders, and executives? This chapter introduces two classes of measurement that are required in order to ensure the initiative is executing well and is driving the value it was created to drive. It begins with a discussion of the application of a measurement continuum to help incubating teams advance, and introduces the types of measurement that will help ensure the initiative itself is evolving and performing well. It includes several examples of detailed metrics and measures that can be used to identify where the initiative is performing well and what might need attention, and that can be used to communicate progress, status, and goal achievement to stakeholders and interested parties.