Danger of stakeholder KPI mis-alignment
What risks emerge when stakeholders lack a unified understanding of the key metrics that define a project’s success?
Clarity on Key Performance Indicators from different stakeholders. is crucial for any project.
You have to know what you’re trying to achieve and then know what you have to measure to enable effective monitoring of progress towards this.
But sometimes not everyone is clear on the task at hand.
Take for instance Gareth Southgate and the England football team. I don’t know exactly how the FA is measuring success, but I imagine it’s very closely aligned to international tournament success. And despite the noise at this years European Championships, England have finished top of their group and as stated by the manager himself, “achieved the objectives set”. So far.
Yet for large portions of England fans, there is discontent. And that it seems is down to the perceived unexciting way England have performed up to now. Lacking intensity, slow in their build up are just some of the descriptions being sounded. From an injury perspective that’s not necessarily a bad thing as so far we’ve progressed without any injuries (cycling accidents aside!) 😅. So then it feels that perhaps the way the England fans gauge success is different to how the FA perhaps do. Fans who travel and give up their time to watch their team, want to be entertained. And unlike Glastonbury that’s happening this weekend, Gareth and his England are not putting on a show to be enjoyed. It comes back to the question raised during the Ashes last year; whether it’s better to be an exciting loser or a boring winner.
So it’s important to be clear on what measure of success is being used by different stakeholders.
Perhaps though we must consider the reason tournament success is important to the FA. It’s because it sparks the imagination of the public, which leads to increased participation and revenue from various streams. But like the old adage of whether a tree falling in the woods makes a sound if no-one is around to hear it. Is a team that wins a tournament a success if no one is inspired to watch it?
