Performance Management on a Shoestring: A Case History

Presentation Summary

Andrea Ballinger, University of Illinois

Many organizations use performance management techniques to set strategic goals and then measure the progress of the organization toward those goals. In these times of tight university budgets getting a performance management initiative started is especially challenging. Many consultants and companies offer services and training but at a significant cost. In the role of a Business Intelligence Competency Center, Decision Support at the University of Illinois has advised units interested in performance management. However, when Decision Support staff began their own performance management effort, they immediately brainstormed over 100 key performance indicators. Before actually beginning design, the same staff realized that they needed to start at the beginning and update the Decision Support strategy map. Over the last nine months they have used internal resources only, free webinars, white papers and a very minimal budget. This presentation will address the challenges the Decision Support team encountered and solutions they have adopted. While the project has several more steps to complete to field its first measures, the team has insight to share in terms of the resources they’ve found and lessons they’ve learned.