Webinar Recap: Using KPIs, Dashboards, & Forecasting to Drive Accountability
As Peter Drucker says, “you can’t improve what you don’t measure.”
Mark Fenner, Scaling Up Coach & Strategist, led an informative webinar about how to leverage the power of tracking critical business information in a dashboard in order to promote a culture of accountability. Data tracking is the most accurate way to measure performance, and in addition creates new habits that continuously drive results.
Leading the charge of a business is a lot like driving a car, as you make decisions about what to do next based on the information in front of you. You stop at stop signs, yield to pedestrians, and follow the flow of traffic to your predetermined destination. And without those signals providing context along the way, you will most likely get lost.
Types of KPIs
There are two types of metrics or KPIs that you can measure:
- Leading indicators allow you to see what’s coming up ahead of you and influence future results (like how you slow down when the stop light turns yellow.)
- Lagging indicators provide insight by telling you what has happened in the past (like what you might see in your rearview mirror.)
It’s important to track both types of KPIs to provide a clear direction for where you’ve been and where you’re going.
Where to Focus
Although you can leverage information around you to make smart decisions, it’s also critical to accept that you cannot control everything. In life and business, there are always aspects 1) within your control, 2) within your influence, and 3) out of your control. As a leader, it’s important to understand and acknowledge the difference and respond by allowing this to guide your decision-making rather than impairing it.
- Focus on what is in your circle of control,
- Trust what is in your influence, and
- Avoid being distracted by what is out of your control.
Where Does Accountability Come In?
According to Mark and his years of experience working with companies looking to implement a business methodology like Scaling Up, the most common weakness voiced by team members is a lack of accountability. Data confirms this by showing that 82% of managers acknowledge that they have “limited to no” ability to hold others accountable successfully.
Forecasting will help you make bigger strides toward accountability by…
- Eliminating surprises
- Enabling proactivity and smarter decision making
- Creating a sense of urgency
- Building trust
At Align, we often say a business leader’s job is to work on the business, not in it. KPI Dashboards and other tracking tools provide clear insight and enable leaders to create a path forward based on factual information. To learn about KPI Dashboards in Align and its many other features, book a demo with us today.
Click here to download Mark’s full presentation.
If you are interested in learning more about effective KPI tracking, check out our complimentary KPI resources.
