2 Key Predictors to Success When Deploying Performance Management Software
There are lots of variables and issues to address when deploying a performance management system across a small or large business. But I’ve found that there are two questions that are critical to your success, regardless of the size or nature of your business. I’m writing this to not only expose those questions, but help you get very clear on your answers. Ready to proceed?
1. WHAT'S THE OBJECTIVE? - This is an important one to answer in a personal and practical (not theoretical) manner. If you're like me, one way to approach this is to imagine someone else asking you, "So why are we doing this... when we are already busy?"
Suggestions: Tie it directly into outcomes that are easy to identify with. These are the outcomes that problems in the work process, e.g. better visibility, better coordination, less details slipping through the cracks, less cost over-runs and delays…
So exactly what is your objective or your top three objectives for making a performance management system part of your business process? Believe me, not only do you need to be very clear about that, but every other person in your organization needs (you) to be clear about that as well.
Getting other people clear and enrolled in the ("your”) objective means you need to make time for interaction in which they have the opportunity to see, agree and support. If you get initial push-back, plan on additional interaction time in which you hear and acknowledge their perceptions, BUT don’t leave until you have dismantled their objections.
Stop. Before we go any further, let's talk about how to manage objections.
Objections are usually based in a different world view that is constructed on a different set of facts or interpretation of facts than you might wish. The best way to deal with objections is to first listen and acknowledge, and then present reality based performance facts.
It’s only human to minimize performance gaps, so you may need to dredge facts up to the surface. Facts that inevitably, and unmistakably point out the reality that something about how business is currently managed is not OK, is not good enough, doesn’t fit with where you all want the business to go.
The truth is, utilizing performance technology, like ManagePro software, is a statement that you want/need/require things to change. If that’s the case, you might as well get on with it. Change and performance improvement is not something to dance around.
2. WHAT’S IT WORTH? - WHAT'S IT WORTH TO YOU? This question is closely linked with your success. Especially when deploying performance management software across your organization to deliver… well what, exactly, are you delivering?
Well that’s the next question isn’t it, maybe even the first? In fact both questions support each other and ultimately the success of deploying a new technology solution.
Your answer should contain information from the personal, customer, team interaction and process levels. The answer to this question can be quite involved, and very defined costs and gains, but as an example,
• “What's it worth” can be defined in terms of personal satisfaction and/or reduced frustration.
• It can also be defined in terms of where your time gets spent, and then again
• It can be defined in terms of dollars and due dates, quality and sales metrics.
What I would like to underscore is that however you measure it, you want to have this question resolved in your head. To embark on a software deployment, e.g. a change process, without having a good grasp of what ultimately the outcome is worth to you and others personally, is a setup for poor results.
Do you know why I wrote that last comment?
It's simply that I have found this statement to be true over and over again,
“If you haven't firmly established what the value of your objective is, you'll easily get pulled away by competing priorities or pushed back by resistance from others.”
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The author of this series, Rodney Brim, is CEO of Performance Solutions Technology (PST). PST develops and assists organizations in deploying performance management software solutions, and presents these guidelines based upon our work with 1,000’s of companies to help ensure your success in the pursuit of performance management. Performance Solutions Technology is found on the web at http://www.PerformanceSolutionsTech.com
