Quantify Your Efforts: The How & Why

Ever heard of the quote by Peter Drucker “If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.” This quote speaks a lot about the importance of quantifying your efforts which could lead to overall improvement and performance. At present, so many firms like IBM place much emphasis on measurable performance at the workplace. This is because to deliver a stellar performance; you need to clearly quantify your efforts which can be measured against future outcomes.

More importantly, quantifying your efforts can help you establish a good credential for future references. For instance, let’s consider two people who are in the race for the position of a project manager in a software development firm. While one of the contenders have a clear track record of projects delivered on time, high level of customers satisfaction and well-written testimonials from his clients; the other contender may not have taken that trouble to quantify his efforts ahead of time. Who do you think should be promoted — obviously the one who has demonstrated achievement.

How to identify the right metrics to track

In quantifying your efforts, here are the four basic metrics to use to track yourself.

• Leadership: In considering this metric, you need to provide answers to the following questions. What leadership skill have I displayed to motivate others and make them more productive? What action have I carried out that can be viewed as taking initiative? Providing answers to these questions will give you a better understanding of your leadership skills.

• Hourly Commitment: Commitment to your job is another metric that must be measured when quantifying your efforts. You must note that the amount of time you spend carrying out your job can (but not always) show how committed you are and how much result you will produce at the end. Keep in mind that you’ll still want to maintain efficiency. Taking too long a task or project is just poor time management.

• Work Quality: You also need to measure the quality of your final deliveries. What type of job where you assigned and what kind of result did you produce at the end? Does this align with your target goal? Measure the delta in between as well to gauge against your future performance.

• Personal development: These include providing answers to questions like; how much have you evolved? Are you in a place where your full potentials are being utilized? Have you been stagnant for a while? What personal development training or workshops have you attended?

Best ways to keep track of those metrics

• Set expectations and goals: Knowing your expectations and goals helps to ensure that overall productivity and performance does not suffer.

• Measure short and long-term: The most effective way to keep track of your effort is to measure both long term and short term performance. You can look for online platforms that allow you to easily track your short and long term achievement.

• Keep an eye on the bottom line: Ensure that you consistently compare your performance with the overall goal of your efforts.

Why quantifying your efforts is important

There are many benefits that come with quantifying your efforts some of which include:

• Giving you a better understanding of your strength and weaknesses
• Increasing your productivity level
• Helping you maintain efficiency at the workplace
• Helping to improve workplace productivity
• Identifying your detractors

How to leverage those results for career success

No one wants to remain to stagnate in his or her career. One way to grow and move forward is to take advantage of the results gained from quantifying your work efforts. To do this, you must understand the result of the metrics you’re tracking, accept it and appreciate the value of the message. And do so without letting your emotions get in the way. Pay attention to the lesson within your work and seek out ways of improving positively. 

Quantifying your efforts is key to ensuring you’re improving yourself AND offering value in your role. If you want to get that next promotion, you need to show what you’re worth. It’s easy to get lost in routine task work without fully recognizing the impact of your efforts. Make sure to track these efforts so you can share with your boss and team whenever relevant. Apart from helping you understand your strength and weaknesses, tracking and quantifying your efforts increases productivity levels and improves productivity at the workplace. Why do anything else?