JKL Associates – Business & Talent Builders Blog!

June 16, 2010 – ISSN# 1545-2646

As business and community leaders, there are many items that we need to keep pulse on. What trends are happening in your industry or neighborhood?  How do those trends impact the marketplace? As we go 100 MPH in our daily life, how can we navigate all the pieces of data and make sense of them?

The first step is to select key indicators for your area of focus and then define the metrics you will use to determine if your attention is needed or not. For example, on the dashboard of your car you may have gauges or lights that light up when some event happens to your vehicle.  If you are running low on fuel , the gauge is in the red and a bell rings along with a lite that shows a little fuel pump.  If you were not aware of your gas amount, this brings it to your attention to address.

The condition in the vehicle is set to alarm you when you have a certain amount of fuel left so you can take action to get to a gas station and refuel.  It does not wait until you are empty nor does it alert you when you still have over half a tank left.

This same methodology applies to all the various items you need to track on our business; revenue in, payables out, outstanding back orders, new sales opportunities etc. Each of these elements needs to have a defined upper and lower limit so that as long as the activity keeps the process within those limits no lights or buzzers go off.

Today, many software programs come with features they refer to as “Dashboards.”  This software application allows the user to place key business indicators on their computer screen so that at a glance they can see if things are in the proper place.  If not they can then address them in a timely fashion.

This week take some time to identify those few key indicators you should be tracking and set upper and lower limits for each.  If everything is running smoothly your attention can be on one of the many other things filling your day.  If the business indicator goes out of tolerance, then your time can be immediately focused on that item.

Need help identifying your key indicators or their limits? Give JKL Associates a call at (313) 527-7945.

Questions or comments – email us at partners@jklassociates.com or call our Office at (313) 527-7945-

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JKL Associates
18530 Mack Ave #242
Grosse Pointe Farms
MI 48236

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