Does your measurement system reflect what is truly happening in your organization? What are you concerned about? Measuring too many things? Measuring too few? Deciding what action you take after you’ve examined the measured results? Presenting a data-based case for improvement?

In the next few blog entries, I’ll share what I have recently learned about measurement. Here are some definitions that I’ll use in this series:
1. Measure: a category of metrics; an example of a measure is “effectiveness.”
2. Metric: a single entity within a measure that indicates performance; an example of a metric is “sales per hour.”
3. Calculation: the formula defining a metric in the specific environment of each call center (technology, data sources, etc.).
4. Standard: the target measure for each contact center. Standards are set for both the “ultimate” goal and the interim “stepping stones” that centers accomplish on their ways to achieving the ultimate goal.

During this series, I will use “measures” as the generic term. Stay tuned, we’ll launch into the fascinating world of call center measures next.