MeaningfulMonitoring

"That which is not monitored..............................is optional." 

Those were the words of a school administrator I once worked with. The truth therein is self-evident and weighty.

Monitoring, however, can become a burdensome tool. The process can also take on the look/feel/smell of being bogus and hollow.

How can we bring meaningfulness to the monitoring process? Consider some of the following as effective tools by which to assess the pursuit of continual improvement (aka monitoring):

• Make clear the goals we are pursuing. 
• Make conversations always about the goals, not the people.
• Keep monitoring focused on the WHOLE more than just the parts.
• Embed discussions about our goals into conversations pervasively.
• Discuss those goals with ALL stakeholders, both internal and external.
• Create some kind of metrics around which those conversations can be had.
• "We" and "Us" and "Our" must always be the pronouns of use, not "I" or "You" or "They."
• Brevity Rules! One short, informal conversation each week will yield better results than one half-day meeting each month.

We can do better. 

Every day. 

On purpose.