Benchmarking is the process of going outside an organization to look at how high performers are doing things in other industries. The concept is to identify and learn from good performance best practices.
Organizations use benchmarking as part of their Quality Management System to gain insight into ways to improve what they do. Successful organizations understand that learning from what others do is very valuable and a good resource for targeted improvement.
Steps in a Benchmarking Process:
Identify What Area Needs Improving
When looking for an area to improve, use the critical success factors that were identified in the 12 Steps to Implementing a Quality Management System as an initial guide. This will help you identify areas that are weak and need improving. Cost, quality and service should always be taken into consideration as part of the project identification.
Look for High Performing Organizations
Look for organizations that perform well in this area. Use professional contacts and networking to find the right organizations. Going outside your industry can shed light on how you do things and how other industries tackle the same problem. It’s amazing what healthcare has learned from the hospitality, manufacturing and airline industries.
Contact the Organization
Be professional in your communications and don’t pressure the organization to share data. Successful organizations typically have a process for sharing benchmark data and are happy to share, especially in areas that they perform well. They are proud of what they do and are happy to share with others. Not all organizations are comfortable sharing performance data so be sensitive to this if you get resistance to the request. Make contacting you as easy as possible and if you miss a call be quick to respond courteously.
Collect and Analyze Data
Be prepared with your questions and specific data you are looking for. Make sure that when you collect data, you are comparing apples to apples and if oranges are in the mix, take differences into consideration when applying information to your own organization.
Develop Performance Improvement Plan
Once you understand where you are as an organization and where you want to be, develop a performance improvement plan with organizational goals mapping out a plan to get there. Identify staff to help implement the plan and use good performance management to achieve goals.
Implement the Plan
Implement the plan and tie it to organizational goals so there is accountability and a good process for performance management. Some plans are lengthy and take time to implement. Be sensitive to this and use SMART goals so they are achievable.
Check for Improvements
Once the plan is implemented, go back and collect data again to see if improvements show in the data. This is where FOCUS PDCA comes in to close the loop. Once you have relationships with organizations that share data, it can be a valuable way to keep your organization moving forward and constantly striving to improve what you do.
There are also professional benchmarking organizations you can join and share data within your industry. Networking at your professional conferences is a good way to identify these types of organizations.
It’s amazing what we can learn from others if we just take the time to ask.
Do you have any examples of successful benchmarking projects that helped your organization improve?
