Section 04 · Manage · Are we in control, and how do we know?
Management Systems
6 modules · Running the business on reliable information.
Part of the MANAGE curriculum. Access all MANAGE modules: USD 77.22. See MANAGE access →
The business tracks dozens of numbers, or none. Either way, few of them change what anyone does.
Why it mattersA small number of well-chosen measures focuses attention, makes performance visible and makes accountability possible. They form the backbone of every management review described in the modules that follow. The emphasis on a small number is deliberate. Attention is finite, and a report containing forty measures is effectively a report containing none, since nobody can attend to forty things at once.
You leave withA short set of KPIs with owners, definitions and targets.
Related: M40 Dashboards · M42 Management Rhythm · M10 Reading Business Health · M22 Accountability
Open M39 →The dashboard looks impressive. Nobody opens it, and nobody trusts the numbers when they do.
Why it mattersA good dashboard answers a specific audience's questions at a glance, from trusted data, in the meeting where decisions are made. It saves time that would otherwise be spent collecting and reconciling figures, and it focuses discussion on exceptions rather than on routine. The emphasis on the meeting is essential. A dashboard that is not reviewed in a regular forum has no mechanism by which its information becomes action.
You leave withA one-page dashboard designed for a specific meeting.
Related: M39 KPIs That Drive Decisions · M41 Management Information · M30 Data · M42 Management Rhythm
Open M40 →Every report comes from a different spreadsheet. Meetings are spent arguing about whose numbers are right.
Why it mattersReliable management information, meaning one version of the truth delivered on time, is what allows a management team to run the business rather than debate it.
You leave withA management information map: what is reported, from where, to whom.
Related: M30 Data · M40 Dashboards · M37 Management Accounting · M39 KPIs That Drive Decisions
Open M41 →Meetings happen when there is a crisis. Between crises, nobody reviews whether the business is on track.
Why it mattersA management rhythm, meaning the right meetings with the right people, information and decisions at the right frequency, is the engine of a business that runs with control. The measures, dashboards and information of the preceding modules need a forum in which they are reviewed, and the rhythm provides it.
You leave withA weekly, monthly and quarterly management rhythm.
Related: M39 KPIs That Drive Decisions · M43 Business Performance Reviews · M22 Accountability · M58 Governance
Open M42 →Results are reported, noted and forgotten. The same shortfalls appear month after month.
Why it mattersA structured performance review turns results into decisions. It asks what happened, why it happened, what will be done about it and who will do it.
You leave withA structured monthly performance review format.
Related: M42 Management Rhythm · M39 KPIs That Drive Decisions · M24 Performance Management · M44 Decision Systems
Open M43 →Important decisions are made in hallways, reversed a week later and never recorded.
Why it mattersA decision system, meaning who decides what, how, with what information and how the decision is recorded, speeds decisions, reduces reversals and creates institutional memory.
You leave withA decision log and rules for how significant decisions are made.
Related: M20 Decision Rights · M58 Governance · M38 Financial Decision-Making · M42 Management Rhythm
Open M44 →
Also in Manage: Finance