Seven tips for successful benchmarking
Let me paint you a picture. Senior executives from your organization are sitting around a boardroom table discussing what the strategy for next year will be. Lots of great ideas are bantered about. This is, after all, the job of the senior executives, to be the visionaries for the company. Decisions are made and then they’re trickled down the corporate ladder. You are in the position of executing strategies and as you look at what was given to you, you groan “Oh why didn’t someone ask me for my opinion, this conflicts with our ways of working, not to mention our products and services”. Does this sound familiar?
This picture, unfortunately, is all too common. Great ideas at the top are discussed but they are not filtered through the reality of the companies ways of working and are made on perception. They are then ‘pushed’ down the ladder without thought or understanding of how it will impact the daily workings of the organization. When the idea finally gets to the individuals who have to implement the idea, there are gaps and issues not contemplated by the Senior Executives. This results in the middle management having to find creative ways to make things work. Sometimes at the expense of the essence of the original idea. The problem with this top down approach is the real workings of the organization are missed or not taken into consideration when key strategies are developed. Without looking at the organization from a holistic integrative perspective (top/down, bottom/up and laterally by understanding the impact to people and processes) you compromise the successful implementation of the company strategy.
How do you ensure company strategies are successfully implemented? By benchmarking prior to developing the strategy!
Benchmarking your organization or the area that the strategy will take place is the key to successful strategic implementation. When you take the time to talk to employees and walk through the area and process in real time it’s amazing how much clarity and knowledge you receive.
What are some tips for benchmarking in your organization?
Tip One: Plan it out ~ Give yourself 3 months to benchmark. This is a great average to work with as it allows you the time to gather your data prior to making decisions. Sorry, last minute benchmarking doesn’t work. You will have to be proactive and stop the reactive behaviour.
Tip Two: Get a sample ~ If it’s data or interviewing people, get a sample size of everyone/thing that is involved in the process/strategy. This ensures you cross your ‘t’s and dot your ‘i’s. Looking at the same thing from multiple vantage points has huge advantages.
Tip Three: Be prepared ~ Organize your questions, interview dates and general data. Do NOT do this on the fly. You need to think and walk through what you’ll be doing. You’ll be surprised at what you’ll forget or miss. This is part of the reason why you need time to prepare.
Tip Four: Quickly execute ~ Perfection is not needed. Hand drawings and raw data dropped in an excel sheet is ok. Making things look pretty is a nice to have, not a need to have. Your goal is to get the benchmark information so it can be used to guide strategic decision making.
Tip Five: Make firm decisions ~ Use this data to make your decision and stick to it. Someone may not believe that your data is correct. If you have a solid sample size and documented everything (even if it’s rough) it’s better than the perceived data. And don’t let someone of a higher position ‘convince’ you in changing your findings to make things look better. This is counterproductive and defeats the purpose of benchmarking which is to see things WITHOUT rose coloured glasses!
Tip Six: Use the data ~ Bring your benchmark information to the strategy meeting and make sure all decisions are filtered through the benchmarked information.
Tip Seven: Monitoring ~ Use your benchmark data to monitor your progress of the new process/strategy. Now you have a metric to measure your success against.
So stop scratching your head wondering why things are NOT going to plan. Understand how you work today so you can improve how you work tomorrow. Benchmarking just makes business sense!
Have you ever benchmarked before? If so, please share your story with us.