One of the key factors to drive organizational and leadership performance is to manage the metrics that matter in STEM organizations. Some of these metrics are fairly similar to metrics in any other organization. They are simple but nonetheless they are profound. Especially when you are a leader in a deeply technical field, it’s easy to get drawn into the complexity of your field of work. You may be tempted to select metrics that reflect this complexity.
Make sure you also get the fundamentals right. Here’s a quick list that allows you to check out how you’re doing on the metrics that matter:
How many referrals, recommendations or introductions have you asked for this week?
What is the number of buyers or leaders outside your immediate team that you met in person last week?
How many new relationships did you start last week?
How long does it take you to respond to an email?
[over a business day is too long; half a day is OK; within 90 minutes is good]
What is the time it takes you to return a phone call?
[same as above]
How many emails are left in your inbox at the end of the day?
[aim for no more than 5; on Fridays, aim for 0]
Is your calendar for this week?
[it should be 100% full because you also want to schedule time for yourself, including your time for strategic thinking, reading, lunch, getting ready for the big things that happen further out. Remember, full calendar can still be changed and you can be flexible]
What is the number of predictions have you made last week about the future?
[Vanilla predictions don’t count. Take a viewpoint. Share your opinion. Don’t be off the wall – but be interesting and provocative.]
How many metrics that matter in STEM organizations (or any organization) do you get right?
Were you interesting for other people?
[Examples: Has anyone reached out because they were intrigued by what you said. Have you been contrarian or provocative with your opinion? Do people want to hear your predictions?]
Have you been avoiding conversations because you don’t know how they would go or you’re not comfortable about them?
By how many words has your vocabulary grown last week?
How often have you decided in favor of a book and against Netflix last week?
What choice do you make when it’s elevator vs. stairs?
Take the next step
How do we get better with the metrics that matter in STEM organizations? Here’s how:
Regardless of how last week went. Let’s make next week better. Here’s how to start:
When you reflect on last week, what are you proud of?
What will be different next week?
Want to dig deeper? For another article that cuts through the seeming complexities that we create in a STEM environment and gets to the fundamentals, check out our article What does it take to land a job at Ferrari?