{"id":384,"date":"2014-08-20T10:00:16","date_gmt":"2014-08-20T10:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/?p=384"},"modified":"2025-07-01T17:20:24","modified_gmt":"2025-07-01T17:20:24","slug":"everyone-has-a-number","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/everyone-has-a-number\/","title":{"rendered":"“Everyone has a number.”"},"content":{"rendered":"

While monthly financial statements are essential to effectively managing your business, they are historical<\/em> documents.\u00a0 They tell you what\u2019s already happened when it\u2019s too late to do anything about it.\u00a0 So in addition to monthly financial statements, you also need measurements that are predictive<\/em> in nature to serve as early warning signs that something may be heading south on you . . . early enough to allow you to take corrective action and get back on track.\u00a0 For more on effectively using data to manage and control your business, please read below.<\/p>\n

“Everyone has a number.”<\/strong><\/p>\n

I have referenced Gino Wickman and his book, “Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business” several times in the past (once as recently as my August 6 posting), and will refer to him again in this posting.\u00a0 Actually, instead of my doling out his advice in little bits, one at a time, you really should pick up a copy of “Traction” and read it . . . you’ll find lots of common sense, practical stuff to help you run your business.\u00a0 Anyway, in one section of the book, he talks about using data . . . some people might refer to a “dashboard” or “Key Performance Indicators” or “metrics” . . . to manage and control your business on a daily\/weekly basis.\u00a0 The old management axiom says, “What gets measured, gets done<\/a>,” and while we’ve talked about that here before, we’ve talked about it in terms of companywide goals and measurements.\u00a0 But Wickman directs us to make it personal . . . give everyone a measurable goal.\u00a0 Not just the salespeople or the production people, but the Receptionist, the IT guy, and the guy on the loading dock as well.\u00a0 Everyone.<\/p>\n

Consider the benefits of giving everyone a personal, measurable goal:<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0It can add specificity to sometimes general job descriptions.\u00a0 If my goal is to produce 5 widgets an hour, it\u2019s pretty hard for me to misinterpret that.\u00a0 There\u2019s nothing ambiguous about the number 5.\u00a0 If I\u2019m producing 5 widgets an hour, I\u2019m on target.\u00a0 If I\u2019m producing 6, I\u2019m in line for the \u201cEmployee of the Month\u201d award.\u00a0 If I\u2019m producing 4, I\u2019d better pick up my game.<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0A specific, measurable goal adds heft, importance to the job.\u00a0 The very fact that someone has taken the trouble to measure what I do tells me that what I do has significance and plays a role in the company\u2019s success.<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0Goals foster teamwork and inclusiveness.\u00a0 If individual goals are a part of our culture, and I have my goal, I must be a part of the family.\u00a0 And if we all have individual goals to achieve, I\u2019ll do what I can to help others achieve their goals and trust that they will do the same for me.<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0A well-crafted goal can bring out both competitiveness and creativity in a person.\u00a0 The boss wants me to produce 5 widgets an hour?\u00a0 Ha!\u00a0 On my worst day I can do 6!\u00a0 And I think with a few tweeks to the process here and there, I can probably get to 8.<\/p>\n

Of course, we don\u2019t need a unique goal for everyone in the organization.\u00a0 If we have three people doing identical tasks, their goals should all be the same.\u00a0 But that\u2019s OK.\u00a0 The important thing is that everyone has a number.\u00a0 The fact that others have the same number for doing the same work doesn\u2019t really matter.\u00a0 In truth, it\u2019s only fair.<\/p>\n

For sales people, it\u2019s relatively easy since most are accustomed to working with quotas.\u00a0 Likewise with production people (or service delivery people) who usually have all sorts of measurements on their efficiency and effectiveness.\u00a0 But what about a clerk in the Accounting Department, or a secretary in the Sales Department, or the Receptionist?\u00a0 Those jobs tend to be more qualitative in nature than quantitative, yet even so, with a little creative thought, you can find relevant, measurable goals for them as well.\u00a0 For instance, a goal for the Receptionist might be that every telephone call is answered by the third ring, or that no caller is left on \u201chold\u201d for more than 60 seconds, or that no visitor is stuck in the lobby for longer than 5 minutes.<\/p>\n

So be expansive!\u00a0 Don\u2019t let the sales guys have all the fun.\u00a0 At your company, let everyone get a little piece of the action.\u00a0 At your company, everyone has a number.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While monthly financial statements are essential to effectively managing your business, they are historical documents.\u00a0 They tell you what\u2019s already happened when it\u2019s too late to do anything about it.\u00a0 So in addition to monthly financial statements, you also need measurements that are predictive in nature to serve as early warning signs that something may<\/p>\n

Read More\u2026<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[39,33,27,24,22,19],"tags":[51,49,52,50],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=384"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1191,"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384\/revisions\/1191"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=384"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=384"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=384"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}