Knowledge Base · Measurement
How do I make performance visible to my whole team?
Use a huddle board: a simple board in the team's workspace, updated daily, showing celebrations, a small number of KPIs with trend charts, and a parking lot for ideas and obstacles. Meet around it for about 15 minutes each day. The board is owned by the team, not the manager, and it turns reporting into a shared conversation.
Choosing the right KPIs is only the first step. If metrics stay in spreadsheets, they drive nothing. A huddle board gets them out of the spreadsheet and into the daily life of the team. It is usually a physical whiteboard or a digital display in the team's workspace, updated daily, and it is the focal point for a short daily meeting. It is not a complex dashboard with dozens of charts. It is a simple, at a glance view of the team's most important work, in three sections:
- Celebrations: wins, big and small, including someone going above and beyond for a customer or the team hitting a target.
- KPIs and trends: a small number of KPIs shown as simple run charts, so the team can see at a glance whether it is winning or losing.
- Parking lot: ideas, obstacles and questions raised in the huddle, captured so they are not forgotten and can be dealt with outside the meeting.
The huddle itself lasts no more than 15 minutes. Each person shares briefly what they are working on, what they have accomplished, and any obstacles they face. It is a communication and alignment tool, not a problem-solving session. When a metric trends down, the chapter calls that looking for the gold in the red: a falling number is not a reason for blame, it is an opportunity to learn, because it points straight at your biggest problems.
Related questions
- What is a huddle board, and how do I set one up?
- How do I run a daily team huddle?
- How often should a team review its metrics?
Source: Continuous Improvement in the Workplace, Ch. 5 (Measuring Success and Ensuring Sustainability).