Whether you are managing a restaurant, nonprofit organization or a church, it is important to know that you are focusing on those things that help move the organization forward and achieving results. This can be measured through critical success factors.
Anyone who manages an organization understands how challenging it is to stop the day-to-day tasks and check to see how well the organization is performing.
It has been said that what gets measured, gets done but finding an easy way to evaluate how the organization is doing is what keeps many in leadership from doing so.
A quality improvement tool that many organizations use is Critical Success Factors (CSF) which are indicators that measure how well an organization is accomplishing its strategic plan and objectives.
CSF are customized to each organization and help provide focus to steer the organization toward fulfilling its mission and vision through strategic objectives.
These indicators of success are used to identify those things, that if done well, lead to breakthrough results.
Most organizations have between eight and twelve CSF and adjust them as strategy and strategic plans change.
Having too many measures can make it difficult to target those things that would achieve the greatest results. Having too few limits the organization’s ability to move to the next level.
4 Examples of Critical Success Factors
Example #1 – Restaurant CSF
Example #2 – Non-profit Organization CSF
Example #3 – Church CSF
Example #4 – Car Dealer CSF
These are merely examples of the kinds of indicators that can be targeted and measured for success. Like any other business goals, CSF are only as good as they are monitored, measured and tracked for performance.
There should be reporting processes put in place and these indicators should be reviewed on a monthly basis by senior leaders of the organization.
Successful organizations have learned how to tie their CSF to their strategic plans and use business goals to accomplish them. This is all part of a well designed performance management system.
Does your organization know what their indicators of success are?
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photo courtesy: 57Andrew
