Are You Keeping Score, Measuring and Posting Results?

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Sid Chadwick

By Sid Chadwick, Chadwick Consulting, Inc.

“What gets measured…. gets managed.”…..William Thomson, Scottish Physicist

INTRODUCTION:

My observation is that most organizations that remain in our great industry…are better managed… today………..they have to be….to remain viable.

At your after-school pick-up basketball game down the street, ask your neighborhood kids to Not keep score…and then watch… the game……stop…… It’s Guaranteed…!

Live Case Studies:

At a client’s Pressroom, from the 3rd week, they began measuring… and posting…. each Press Crew’s weekly, “Sellable Sheets Produced”….the numbers began (and are still)….increasing. (Their Presses…are about 20 years old but well-maintained.) Increasing production, and decreasing costs, are funding replacement Presses.
At a Web-client’s sizable Bindery, they began measuring…. and posting….”The Number of Bindery Hours Worked…Per Skids Shipped”….the number of hours worked per skids shipped….began going down. Note: housekeeping…planning….and “organization”…..also improved.
When a client began measuring…and posting their “Estimating Hit Ratios”….their Estimating Hit Ratios…for all their (Inside & Outside) Reps …. went up. Note… the Quality of their Estimate Requests…also improved.
When “Most Value-Added Sales-By Month” – Sales Rep’s name… began being posted in the company’s foyer, on a walnut/brass plaque --- where visitors, suppliers, employees, and customers….could see that Sales Rep’s name (but not the dollars), competition….based on “individual Rep’s pride” --- lead to passionate, public challenges between Reps….at their Monthly Department Review (e.g., “That’s the last time you receive that recognition --- two months in a row….!”)
When names of generators of “Referrals… That Become New Customers”… began being announced…and receiving applause from fellow employees…. at the company’s Monthly Luncheon….number of Referrals generated….went up --- 3X…so far…!
A client’s Digital Operator, by critical observation, was undisciplined. I would have to turn away --- from pain experienced --- watching the waste of Operator time. Two steps moved him to over $6,000 of revenue produced per shift: (a) Department Supervisor posted a chart in front of the Operator, but also available for others to see --- “Job Revenue Produced per Day”, and (b) asking the Operator about every two weeks, “What needs to change so that you can produce more…?” (There seemed to always be at least one answer to that question.)
Company ownership offered an “All the Pizza you can eat …1st Saturday Nite of the Month”…..if ….“Value-Added Dollars Invoiced last month --- exceeded the same month, the previous year”….. Pizzas have been ordered seven out of nine previous months…..! Note: those Value-Added dollars scheduled to be shipped before the end of the month…..are tracked…and posted…. daily --- up until the last day of the month…..everyone feels the company’s Team Spirit.

SUMMARY:

Some philosophers say it’s in our American DNA….no matter our chosen field of work….we have to find ways to improve…and achieve….when the score is being recorded… and posted…….that’s who we are.

Jami Daniels of The Daniels Group is reported to have told her V.P. of Business Development….“I don’t want any competition!”(In case you might be wondering, those were “Marching Orders”…..and by my observation….that organization is on its way…. to that very condition…..)

Some of my favorite questions include, “What do you “celebrate”…. as an organization…?” (Surely it’s more than birthdays and employee anniversary dates….!)

Personally, in a previous life, our Business Development Team made sure that praise, and “accolades of recognition”…especially in front of customers --- went first ….to our Production Brothers and Sisters….we could accomplish nothing of significance with our Customers….without the assurance of Production’s total support….!

Is there… too much and frequent praise and recognition….occurring in your organization….for substantive accomplishment….initiative…..and support…..?

How many of your current employees are being developed…. for bigger and better responsibilities…..? (Do you think about that…. as a priority…?)

How many of your current employees…..want …..to contribute more…..?

Math (one of only a few universal languages)… measurements… and analysis….can assist our ultimate goals… ambitions…..and motivations……if we will but use them.

I believe there is much we need to learn….and acknowledge…….As an African American mathematician, Katherine Johnson arrived at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in 1953. She joined a Team “that made life and death calculations for the Mercury, Apollo, and Shuttle space missions.” Several of our most famous astronauts, including John Glenn, Alan B. Shepard, Jr., and Neil Armstrong --- asked her to verify calculations that technology said should be followed for launch windows, emergency return paths, and return trajectories. Ms. Johnson retired from NASA in 1986. Her story was recorded in “Hidden Figures”, “a 2016 movie based on a book by Margot Lee Shetterly.” Ms. Johnson died on February 24th, at 101. Her obituary was listed in The Wall Street Journal’s Weekend Edition (that features obituaries of individuals --- many you’ve never heard of --- making --- significant contributions --- to our society).

“By necessity…..we are back to being a ‘teaching organization’…..measuring, cross-training, and improving….everything….!”…….Tony Tedeschi, Owner, Piedmont Press & Graphics, Warrenton, VA.