How We Measure Actual Performance

Measuring actual performance involves pursuing real-world execution and comparing it against established standards to evaluate efficiency and guide decisions.

To determine what actual performance is, a manager must first get information about it. Five sources of information used by managers to measure and report actual performance are:

• Personal observation,
• Statistical reports,
• Self-monitoring computers,
• Oral reports, and
• Written reports.

Personal observation

Personal observation provides firsthand, close knowledge of the actual activity- information that is not filtered through others. It permits exhaustive coverage because minor as well as major performance activities can be observed as well as opportunities for the manager to “read between the lines.” Management-by-walking-around can pick up omissions, facial expressions, and tones of voice that may be missed by other sources. Unfortunately, in a time when quantitative information suggests objectivity, personal observation is often considered an inferior information source. It is subject to perpetual biases — what one manager sees, another might not. Personal observation also consumes a good deal of time. This method suffers from obtrusiveness. Employees might interpret a manager’s open observation as a sign of lack of confidence in them or of mistrust.

Statistical reports