28 Aug Nothing Happens Without Tracking
In business, it is not what you know, but how you execute. And, trust me, I’ve seen it time and time again, when business owners make a plan, but never execute it. Or, even worse, they execute the plan, but only half-heartedly. To truly follow through with any plan, you must have a way to track, measure and adjust.
Think of it this way…
If professional sports no longer kept score or any other individual or team statistics, would you still watch?
Probably not. The act of keeping score is our way (as the spectator) to quantify the success or failure of each team. In other words, we are able to clearly and quickly determine which team is executing more than the other. And, for the coaches perspective, having the score and various team statistics such as penalties, turnovers, missed shots, etc, allows the coach to adjust their play calls and players to improve the overall team’s performance. Without a consistent and accurate way to measure the team’s progress, competitive sports would no longer exist.
Now, consider this in the business sense. If you are not tracking, measuring and adjusting how your teams perform, you are leaving money on the table. The reason why many business owners don’t track their progress is rooted in a fear of accountability. When you begin tracking and analyzing your performance in relation to your goals, it forces you to be held accountable and to hold others to a higher standard. If your sales team is expected to reach $25,000 in new sales a quarter but they’ve only achieved $12,000 in sales, then it is up to management to determine how to adjust the plan and/or modify the team to improve performance.
Setting milestones and clear expectations for yourself and your teams ensures that you are focused on producing results. And, by putting systems in place to track performance, you’re better able to assess what factors may be standing in the way of your progress. When performance falls short of expectation, this is when you can adjust by:
- Providing more targeted training to your teams to enhance performance
- Reassign team members to better leverage their strengths or interests
- Terminating business relationships that just aren’t working
Find a tracking protocol that works for you and stick to it. Without tracking, you have no way of verifying if your teams are performing at their highest level and if a crucial pivot is needed to take your business to the next level.
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