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One of the reasons why we can’t find meaningful performance measures for our goals has to do with whether the goals are about actions or results. Action-oriented goals aren’t true goals, since goals should be about making a difference, not just doing stuff.

We find plenty of both action-oriented and result-oriented goals, often mixed together, in strategic plans and operational plans in all sectors and industries. And we find that many people don’t even realise there is a difference.

But there is a difference, and the difference matters in how meaningful (and useful) our performance measures can be.

Action-oriented goals are tasks, projects, milestones or activities.

They aren’t true goals, even though it’s common to refer to the completion of a task or project as a goal.

• They don’t describe an impact or outcome that is an enduring quality that can be continually improved, or that continually matters.
• They describe discrete units of work that might very well achieve an outcome or create an impact on an enduring quality. They have a start, a finish, and series of steps in between.
• They consume resources and time.
• They are done or completed, rather than achieved.

Examples of action-oriented goals are:

• ‘Build a network of priority bus corridors.’
• ‘Implement the new financial software by June.’
• ‘Train all staff in time management.’
• ‘Enhance our customer service policy.’
• ‘Introduce at least one new innovative product.’
• ‘Report near-miss accidents.’

Action-oriented goals cannot be meaningfully measured.

They lend themselves to be measured in trivial ways:

• milestones like ‘completed by end of year’ (milestones are not measures, by the way)
• single points of data like ‘on-budget’
• volumes of inputs or resources like ‘number of staff trained’ or ‘kilometres of bus corridor constructed’

These measures don’t describe performance, because they don’t describe whether the action created the desired effect or not.

Action-oriented goals and action-oriented measures keep our attention on doing stuff. Project management takes care of this. What we need our attention on, through performance measurement, is making a difference that matters.

This doesn’t mean we discard actions. We need to start by setting result-oriented goals, and then choosing the best actions that will achieve those goals.

Result-oriented goals are true goals.

They are true goals because they statements about improvement compared with now; a change for the better.

• They describe an impact or outcome that is an enduring quality.
• They can be changed (improved) by more than one type of action and some actions will have more impact on them than others.
• They don’t have a start or finish nor are they a series of steps to follow.
• They are qualities that are always present, and they either matter to us right now or they don’t.
• They don’t consume resources or time.They are the effect of how we spend resources or time. They aren’t completed.
• They are achieved and being achieved means that the quality they describe has in some way improved.

Examples of result-oriented goals are:

• ‘Decrease peak-hour transit times.’
• ‘Reduce the error rate in financial reports.’
• ‘Reduce overtime hours.’
• ‘Increase customer loyalty.’
• ‘Grow our market share.’
• ‘Keep projects on-time and on-budget.’
• ‘No-one is harmed by preventable accidents.’

Result-oriented goals are easier to find meaningful measures for.

When we look for a measure for a result-oriented goal, we’re looking for direction and objective evidence of the result we want:

• We could measure the average transit time during peak-hour periods over time and see by how much our bus corridor project reduces it.
• We could measure the number of errors per data item in financial reports and look for the decrease we expect after the new financial system is up and running.
• We could measure the total overtime hours worked each week and test what impact productivity training has on reducing it.

Result-oriented goals and result-oriented measures keep our attention on making a difference that matters, through the actions we deliberately choose and implement.

Result-oriented measures are what performance measurement is all about.

DISCUSSION:

Do you have action-oriented goals? What result do you think they are aimed at achieving?

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