How do you know it's better or worse?

Change happens every day. We hope that it is improving performance. Sometimes we claim it is making things worse. How do you know?

Measure the things that are important.

As humans, we like to know how much better and how much worse things are. We like to seek approval or avoid punishment. As a manager, as a leader, you need to give this feedback to your staff.

Define activities that matter to your organization. What results do you expect and how do you know those results are met? Set those measures as performance standards. Set a baseline. Communicate the measures and performance expectations to your staff.

Now, enforce those performance expectations. When the staff does work to make things better - reward them. If the staff does work that makes things worse - counsel and coach them. Everyone will know when it is better and when it is worse.