Information Monitoring: Identifies monitoring needs

Determines which systems, processes, or areas need to be monitored; identifies what information needs to be obtained. The first step to effectively monitoring information is to decide what areas of your job or organization need to be tracked. Once you've determined what those areas are, you then need to focus on gathering the information that best tracks them.
For example, an objective in your performance plan includes your area meeting certain sales goals. Naturally, you'll want to monitor the company's monthly sales reports, but you must decide exactly what data you will use from this sales report. In this instance you would focus specifically on the number of sales budgeted for your area versus the number of sales actually made.1. Determine what areas to monitor.Information monitoring can be a powerful tool to help you meet objectives, encourage appropriate actions, and keep surprises to a minimum.
"It is pardonable to be defeated, but never to be surprised." -- Frederick the Great
When you monitor systems, processes, areas, or goals for which you are responsible, you are

tracking:

People.
Outputs.
Resources.

People perform the tasks necessary to achieve department and organization goals. To guide their efforts, you might use information monitoring systems such as:

Personnel procedures or policies.
Performance management systems.
Reports on progress, productivity, or projects.

Outputs are the things you or your group produce. It's important that these things--whether they're shoe sales, rocket designs, network software programs, or candy bars--be monitored for quality, quantity, and timeliness. You can monitor output information by:

Defining production levels in terms of quantity, quality, and timeliness.
Regularly comparing actual performance against established standards.
Tracking waste, rework, defects, and non-value-added process steps.
Resources include money, materials, and equipment. You need to monitor information around:

Purchasing policies and procedures.
Financial and cost controls.
Expenditures.

If you're unsure what information you need to monitor, review your or the company's performance plan. The objectives in it should help you identify where to focus your efforts. Make sure you're familiar with the organization's and your department's performance objectives, business plan, critical success factors, values, and vision. These are all excellent sources that can help you determine what information systems you need to monitor.
As an executive, Ryan monitors people, outputs, and resources by using a detailed operational plan. He often uses Pert or Gantt charts to control the various activities that need to be accomplished to finish a project. He also sets time limits and integrates these limits when planning work. This information monitoring system allows him to direct and track how much time, material, or human resources he needs to assign in order to meet organizational goals.
Angela, a team leader on an assembly line, monitors the weekly defect report. Monitoring this information helps her pinpoint significant trends and gives her ideas on how to lower her team's error rate.

Thomas' objective is to edit an average of 100 pages of text a week. To ensure he meets or exceeds his goal, he logs in the number of pages he edits each day. At the end of each week, he totals the figures to see if he is on track. Once a month, Thomas checks his average. If he is below average, he puts off reading unrelated memos and e-mail messages to raise his average. When he was above average, Thomas signed up for a class on marketing to expand his writing skills.
2. Determine what information is needed.Now that you've identified the areas you would like to monitor, you next need to determine the specific information you will monitor. This depends on your position, your performance goals, your department's objectives, and your company's business plan.

For example, a customer service manager is held accountable for customer satisfaction and therefore might want to monitor information on any or all of the following topics:
Customer satisfaction survey scores.
The number of times a telephone rings before it is answered.
The number of times a customer's call is transferred before he or she speaks with the right person.

The number of complaints per sale.
The number of successful service interactions versus number of complaints. Here are some additional examples of data that might be appropriate to monitor, depending on your job:
Scrap rates
Safety violations
Associate attendance
Job satisfaction
Turnover rates
Total sales
Error rates
Equipment downtime
Productivity

Production rates Measuring performance is an essential element of information monitoring. Some data, like error rates and equipment downtime, is easily measured. Other information, like changes in organizational climate or the results of advertising campaigns, is more difficult to measure.

Sean, vice president of the Facilities Planning and Maintenance department, needs to closely monitor machine breakdowns. This information is necessary for a number of reasons. First, he needs to predict and budget for when a machine will need to be replaced. In addition, he needs to be aware of when equipment downtime is most likely to occur so he can properly schedule repair people.

Susan, a customer service representative, was frustrated. Every time a customer complained to her, all she could do was apologize. It was costing her and the company sales, which hurt her paycheck. She talked with a coworker and they agreed to start tracking when customers threatened to do business elsewhere and their reasons why. After one month they discovered a trend and reported it to their manager. The manager was thankful and said their initiative would give him the information he needed to improve the product.