Reports and quality
Knowing whether this is improving
Three numbers that tell the truth, and two that mislead.
Six months in, the question appears: is this working? An honest answer needs three numbers, and there are two people watch that say nothing.
The three that do say something
| Number | What it reveals | Which way it should go |
|---|---|---|
| Average days to complete a case | Whether the process works | Down, then stabilise |
| How many complete with nobody phoning | Whether automatic chasing works | Up |
| How many expired items exist right now | Whether control is real or on paper | Zero, and stay there |
Important
The second is what genuinely measures whether this is giving you time back. A case completing in ten days but with four phone calls along the way has saved nothing: it has only moved the work.
The two that mislead
The second is the more treacherous, because it looks like the natural indicator. If it rises while cancelled cases also rise, what is improving is your willingness to give up, not your control.
When to look
Quarterly, not weekly. These numbers move slowly and watching them daily only generates noise and hasty decisions about variation that is chance.
Watch out
Always compare with the same period last year, not with last month. Almost every sector has seasonality, and a poor August against July says nothing.
Worth knowing
If a number will not make you change anything, do not measure it. A dashboard with fifteen indicators nobody uses is more work than information.
›How often should they be reviewed?
Quarterly. Monthly while you are mid-change.
›Can they be broken down by team?
Yes, and sometimes that is where you see the problem is local.
›What if they get worse?
It often means volume grew or you are now measuring what you could not see before. Not always a bad sign.
A real case
The situation
A company celebrates that 92% of its cases are complete.
What you do
- Also checks how many were cancelled incomplete that quarter
What you get
Finds the percentage rises because hard ones get closed, and switches to days-to-complete instead.
The situation
People say this is going better and nobody has a figure to back it.
What you do
- Picks two or three indicators and measures them consistently
- Compares with the same period last year
- Notes what changed in between so it can be explained
What you get
The improvement is demonstrated rather than asserted, and you know what caused it.
The situation
Measurement starts at rollout and not before.
What you do
- Recovers the figure for how it was done before
What you get
The comparison has two points.
The situation
The indicator improves because the measurement changed.
What you do
- Keeps the criteria stable
What you get
The improvement is real rather than methodological.
The situation
Ten things are measured and nothing is decided.
What you do
- Keeps the ones that change decisions
What you get
The report gets read and used.
The situation
The indicator worsens one month and panic sets in.
What you do
- Looks at the trend rather than the point
What you get
The reaction is proportionate.
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