But, not all measurement is good. Many organisations are in chaos because of a flood of data that is irrelevant, too detailed, poorly integrated, difficult to access and of little value in making decisions.

Too much data is just confusing!

Some measures bear little relationship to what the organisation is trying to achieve – they are not relevant to objectives. Other measures are misleading because their meanings are poorly understood, unclear or ambiguous.

Irrelevant or misleading measures lead to poor, or even disastrous, decisions.

Just knowing that you have a performance gap is not enough to guide decision-making and action. To take effective action, you also need to know why you have a gap. Measuring and understanding the reasons for the gap will lead you to make the right decision.

The BMA Group understands these problems, and has developed a process to assist clients to develop focussed and effective business performance management systems. This process is guided by well-established principles of corporate performance management and of performance measure design.

Performance management can be implemented through use of the Balanced Scorecard and other similar frameworks.

If people throughout an organisation are well-informed about their current and likely future levels of performance, and the factors that have contributed to those results, they can make more confident and more effective decisions.

Measurement-based management that is focussed on objectives, issues and decision-making leads to success.

Major benefits of business performance management include:

• Better achievement of objectives. (Often objectives are exceeded.)
• Better and quicker decision making. (Action is encouraged.)
• All staff are aligned to common goals.
• Managers and staff have greater confidence and motivation.