I was recently asked how to best measure a company's adoption of a Work Management platform like @wrike. I liked the question so much that I couldn't stop typing. So, here are my excessive thoughts on a topic I am excessively passionate about.
"I would suggest looking more closely at Operational Excellence metrics than adoption metrics. Plenty of teams have 80% adoption rates and still fail daily." ~ me.
The most important metric is the most uncomplicated metric to get into your work management platform. It is the linchpin of Operational Excellence. It answers the question, "do we do - what we said we would do - when we said we would do it?" That is the rule on which all other activities in your business depend. In other words, a task's due date vs. completion date.
In business, there are Golden Metrics that drive a multitude of behaviors. This one drives:
- Adoption of the work management platform
- A culture of follow thru
- Cleanliness in data
- Reduction of excessive tasks (concise work plans)
- An improved understanding of resources and effort
- And probably a few more...
The How-to:
Create a report that shows an appropriate set of tasks in your Work Management Platform of choice (Mine is Wrike). Columns are assignee, due date, and complete date. Every month or quarter, run the report. Spit it into an analytics platform (or excel) and get a straightforward read on % of on-time completed tasks by the assignee. Then give public accolades to the person who completed the most work on time until the system works. Then, build that metric into quarterly or monthly incentive programs. The top 3 performers get $150, $250, or $500 gift cards. Remember that this is a Golden Metric. Pay for it like it is.
The FAQ on this:
Q: Well, what happens when my people keep moving their due date?
A: That's called work management. They either do it on Friday when the task says Tuesday, or they do it on Friday when the task says Friday. Give the contributor enough time, and they will get tired of rescheduling work. Then they will better manage their workload and better communicate their conflicts.
By the way, this is only possible with a Collaborative Work Management Platform like Wrike because it is in a CWMP where "everyone's everything" lives.