Response

My intial Statement I made:

Metrics also involves, something, somebody and or monitoring of the big picture. In metric the big picture is very important and always being affected by how the measurement is taken. Therefore, we should avoid the big picture from being adversely affected by using the actual measurements. When measuring a person is supposed to make sure that they are measuring the actually part that is intended to be measured. On the other hand, the actual part that is intended to be measured should be correct. The person measuring should make sure that they are measuring the correct part in order to avoid errors.

While working on the project there should also be a mission and a goal for the project to be able to achieve the intended objectives. The main aim of doing metrics is not punishing people but rather it is a way of helping people to make better and accurate decisions and avoid errors. Being able to come up with timely, accurate and accountable metrics is very important as it helps in making the metric be defined and small which helps reducing problems to an organization. Organization may have or experience several changes as a result changes need to be done to the metric which is also an added advantage to the organization and helps the big picture from being affected.

Student response’s:

· Thu at 6:26 PM

Deidra,

This week's reading has introduce us again to everyday  routines in our every day life, either consciously or unconsciously "metrics". Just to get clarification from your post, can you please explain what you meant by "..... the actual part that is intended to be measured should be correct."

Thanks

Emmanuel  

·

Fri at 1:41 AM

Deidra,

I definitely think incorrect measures or false reported measures can often times have a negative impact on the organization. As you mentioned, we should avoid the big picture from adversely being affected. In the Military, this could be the difference between someone actually being mission ready or not. Some of our metrics involve training. I would say the big picture is readiness. When reported incorrectly, ie the unit is 100% trained where in fact the unit is not 100% trained; it can lead to individuals deploying who have no business deploying. This is just one example.

Ana

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Fri at 8:51 AM

When you state, "we should avoid the big picture from being adversely affected by using the actual measurements", I believe you are on point. Actual measurements of the current state  or the existing "as is" system is one key to effective management. Knowing the current measurements of your system will allow you to see the current "big picture". Starting baseline or "as is" measurements are the truth of where your system is currently. Once you know these measurements, you can effectively monitor any adverse affects, because you will be able to see true measurements of any change as they shift to either show quantifiable improvement or an quantifiable adverse affect against the baseline. Measurements

Regina

· I agree about making sure to measure the right thing. What I mean is if you don't measure something that won't be useful to your job then it was a wasted study. We did something similar at one of the hospitals I worked at. We started out measuring patient satisfaction. It was amazing how many things were effected by patient satisfaction. It ended up improving almost every aspect in the hospital and started a new program in the Navy.

Richard

· I think that you and Richard both make excellent points regarding measuring the correct thing. Your statement "the actual part that is intended to be measured should be correct. The person measuring should make sure that they are measuring the correct part in order to avoid errors." Richard, when discussing the measurement of things such as patient satisfaction, you are correct, if you are not measuring the right thing, results do not benefit anyone in the situation. I think it is important to discuss there are SO many variables to be measured when you are dealing with something such as patient satisfaction (did the patient feel the staff communicated well? Was their pain managed? What did they think of our dietary plans? Did they receive proper education? etc), which leads back to our current discussion that you must measure the right things, even when and if there are variable things to be measured. In this example, if you do not measure everything, your not measuring the "right" thing!

Crystal

· I enjoyed reading your informative post.  I agree that the person taking measurements should make sure they are measuring the correct part.  They should triple check their work and at the very least double check to make sure they are in fact measuring what needs to be measured.  

- Dave