For most activities, it is far better to manage change with a plan-one that includes clear goals and useful indications of progress toward a desired objective. Participants in an activity need to know what outcome is expected, where their work contributes to the overall goal, how well things are progressing, and what to do if results are not occurring as they should. Such integration makes it possible for performance measures to be effective agents for change. If the measures quantify results of an activity, one only needs to compare the measured data with desired goals to know if actions are needed. In other words, the measures should carry the message.
Inappropriate measures are often the results of random selection methods.
For example, brainstorming exercises can get people thinking about what is possible and provide long lists of what could be measured. Unfortunately, such efforts by themselves do not provide reliable lists of what should be measured. Unless the measures are firmly connected to results from a defined process, it is difficult to know what corrective actions to take and to predict with confidence what effects those changes will have. If you want to be able to identify effective corrective actions to improve products and services, results of all key processes must be measured. In this way, one can identify specific processes that need to change if progress is not satisfactory.