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Guide to... Performance Measurement and Benefits Tracking with Score Boards
Why Scoreboard Benefits?
Setting targets and score-boarding benefits is a key project management tool to ensure that the teams are motivated and focused on delivering hard benefits throughout the development of recommendations and implementation.
The primary purpose of Score-boarding is to put a "stake in the ground" before extensive roll out of the recommendation has begun. Having clearly identified the definition of the benefit, key measures to calculate the benefit, the time frame in which the benefits are expected to be delivered and who is responsible for delivering the benefits, the scoreboard will facilitate the measurement and tracking of actual benefits.
Each of the project teams are encouraged to set 'stretch targets' with the team responsible for the implementation of the recommendation. We believe that stretch targets are important for several reasons:
- Experience shows that when people are challenged by significant expectations, they deliver. Even if the teams under deliver, the company is better off if a team hits 90% of a stretch target of $1000, than 100% of a conservative target of $400.
- Stretch targets help to ensure that the new process is actually implemented. If a team is targeted with a 15% improvement expectation, it can in many cases be achieved by becoming more efficient or simply working harder. If a team is targeted with a 70% improvement expectation, the team will find it necessary to implement the new solution because working harder with the old work practices could never achieve improvements of that magnitude.
- Remember to agree with the client how success will be measured. The client must accept that hitting 70% of a major stretch target is success and reward the team so. On the other hand you need to communicate to the team that they must hit 100% of the stretch target. If they know 70% is acceptable they will naturally lower their target. If you do this, you have a team going all out for 100% of the stretch target, but when they hit 70% of this target, they are rewarded, they do not feel demoralized and the client thinks everything went according to plan. You have to keep two separate stories for two sides. A like bit like James Bond; it is what a good consulting leader would do.
Key Features and Definitions
A benefit is defined as the incremental improvement in the results as a result of making a change. Benefits can be financial or non-financial (e.g. a 15% improvement in customer satisfaction). Financial improvements are score-boarded as gross revenue, cost saving, capital reduction or cost avoidance.
The Scoreboard amount is calculated as the amount of benefit that is projected to be implemented by the third quarter of the fiscal. This provides incentive to teams to look for benefits that provide for high annualised savings or turnover increases as well as for benefits that can be implemented in the near term - ensuring a bias for action amongst the project teams.
Revenue Enhancements
Revenue enhancement targets must be developed and tracked at the gross level - not at the profit or operating margin level. That is not to indicate that margin is not an important consideration as margin impact is a crucial factor in decision making and analysis.
Once a decision has been made to go forward with a recommendation, you will, however, track revenue benefits at the gross revenue level. There are two primary reasons for this:
- A critical success factor to effective benefits tracking during implementation is to keep it simple so that the implementation teams can own the process and analyse the findings. Tracking at the margin level makes the process more complex. Which margin should you track at? Should you use the corporate margins? It is cleaner to track at the gross level and analyse the results at certain points looking at both revenue and margin. The teams generally will not have the ability to control product margin. Targeting teams with what they can control is more effective.
- The second reason for focusing the teams on tracking revenues is the fact that the margins will be changing at the same time due to the efforts of the rest of implementation (and other initiatives). For example, network services may currently be unprofitable according to the project data, but part of a To Be solution may include actions to lower the cost of activities that contribute to the cost of the product, so that it ultimately becomes a profitable product.
Cost Savings
Cost Savings includes two primary categories; capital reduction (both working capital and fixed) and expense reduction (income statement type expenses). You must track the capital reduction scoreboard benefits on a cash basis. As these benefits are typically only a once off benefit, capital reductions do not have as much impact on the total scoreboard amounts as compared to an expense reduction that accrues annually to the company. This may surprise you but is true!
We have defined a cost avoidance benefit as an amount that the company has not spent in the past but has planned to spend in the future, but will now not have to spend because of a change in work practice, reduction in volume, etc.
Baselines
Setting appropriate baselines requires good judgement, common sense and accurate historical data and measures. It would be nice to say that there is one standard baseline period that every team should use on a project. Unfortunately due to different clients' issues, initiatives and industries, this may lead to confusing results.
You should also adjust the baselines for known future events. For example, in a HR redeployment opportunity assessment, the team may have to develop a different type of baseline because using F/Y 2011 as a baseline may have overstated the benefit based on specific known facts about the environment facing the implementation team in F/Y 2012.
Baselines are generally developed in two ways:
- based on past performance rates and current work practices assuming that the volumes remain the same
- based on past performance rates and current work practices assuming planned future volumes.
It is important that the project team reviews the two approaches to determine which provides the "fairest" baseline against which to measure progress.
Predicting the future is obviously inherently more difficult than analysing the past. However, the limited time frame in which you allow the score-boarding of benefits helps to reduce the risk in predicting the future.
Two Levels of Score-boarding
Many projects will require two levels of Score-boarding:
Overall
These cases document the recommendation and the benefit which will accrue to the company when national implementation is completed. The benefits will have been calculated based on national averages and global targets. The timing of the implementation may have been estimated. Before implementation of the changes begins, a more detailed scoreboard calculation must be performed.
Detail
These scoreboard cases are for those recommendations where implementation is about to begin. Detailed baselines and targets have been determined by geography (if appropriate) or pilot area.
Before implementation begins in a pilot area, detailed baselines would have to be set, as the local results would likely vary from the national averages used in the overall scoreboard calculation. The target may have to be re-considered at the local level but should hopefully stay the same as the percentage target used in the overall case.
Critical Success Factors
- Keep the process simple. Focus on the major benefits. Use measures that the implementation team will find helpful.
- Go for stretch targets but make sure the focus is on teams learning from the process of tracking benefits; not beating them up if they come close to achieving the stretch target.
- Do not worry if the benefit is already a part of the F/Y budget or something that will go above and beyond the budget. The team should focus on identifying the operational measures that will be critical to understanding whether change is happening or not during implementation. Reviewing whether or not these benefits have been included in the budget or not is an important step but will be performed separately.
Benefits of Score-boarding
Using score-boarding as a tool on the project has the potential to deliver benefits beyond those related to setting up benefits tracking:
- Provides an overall view of financial and operational benefits which will be delivered by the programme. Having this type of information developed in a consistent format (and included in one database) improves the ability for the company to incorporate the results of the project into the five year plans and budgets.
- The multiple sign-offs required by the Score-boarding process ensures that appropriate cross-divisional issues are addressed and agreed before significant implementation begins.
- Requiring those who will be accountable for implementation to sign the business case which supports the score-boarded benefits facilitates the identification of concerns and issues that the signatory may have with the To-Be recommendations. Asking for their signature will drive home the point that the project (and you) are serious about making these changes happen.
- The deadlines and milestones set by the process provide a means for the process to push earlier decision-making and consensus building.
About the Author
Michael Boricki is a writer for Lillilooloo.com. Provided a reference is made to the website, the article may be reproduced with no alterations, . Lillilooloo.com is the trusted destination for management consultants, students and analysts to understand the tools and techniques of management consulting. Lillilooloo.com Books provide you with inside information to: understand, follow and replicate consulting best practices. However, we are more than our consulting books. We offer the internet's largest platform for consultants to upload and share consulting material. We provide a store for members to sell toolkits and manuals. The site offers a fully functional 24-hour back-office where users can tap into our network of consulting specialists to produce high quality documents.
Would I be able to bring my electric guitar in its case on board the plane if I'm flying with NWA?
Would I be able to bring the electric guitar if it was in a hardshell case if it was about 41 inches long?
Too Big for carry on
With the new rules you will be charged $25 to $50 for the additional bag
