What to measure - and why

In business it is easy to become obsessed by metrics - counting widgets, measuring time, tracking your sales to the nth degree.

Just a moment. Before you start measuring, can we ask you a couple of questions?

1. Is it something that you can influence? Is it something under your control? Can you take action to change the outcome?
2. Is it worth measuring? Is there any point in tracking it?

Let's just unpack that.

If you can't influence an outcome, any counting or measuring that you do will be purely academic. But it could be a marker for something that you do influence. Or it could be something that will help you predict another outcome.

For instance, correlating your sales with the weather (or more specifically, the number of hours of sunshine and the day's maximum and minimum temperatures) could be very useful - particularly if you are selling ice creams in Brighton or Bognor, or even Budapest.

This example has other applications too. In fact, almost any trade associated with discretionary spend will find their takings vary with the weather - and possibly with days of the week. As Karen Carpenter sang, "Rainy days and Mondays always get me down." It could be a positive or a negative correlation.

Raw data will tell you how much or how many. Intelligent analysis may tell you why.

(This article is brought to you by Qryztal Consulting. Engage the power of the sharpest minds in London - email us at consulting@qryztal.com)