Process Experiments
Part of Productivity measurement
Avoiding productivity metrics that reward shortcuts
Check productivity targets for shortcuts, inspect quality and displaced work, and revise measures that misrepresent results.
Before adopting a productivity target, ask how someone could raise its number while worsening the result. Pair the measure with checks for quality, unfinished work and costs shifted elsewhere. Examine real cases before using the figure to reward or penalise anyone.
Test the incentive
Write down the behaviour the measure should support and the easiest way to raise its score. More closed requests might mean prompt resolution, but the count could also rise if requests are closed before customers receive usable answers. Shorter recorded cycle time might reflect less waiting, or a later recorded start. These are possible responses to a target, not claims about a particular team.
Ask the people doing, reviewing and receiving the work what would reveal a shortcut. Include required checks and service duties the headline count misses. Do this before the measure is used in a performance conversation.
Add a check that can challenge the headline number
| Headline measure | Possible shortcut | Companion check |
|---|---|---|
| Items closed | Close before the recipient can use the answer | Inspect sampled items against the completion rule and later returns. |
| Reports delivered by deadline | Omit a required check | Inspect the required checks and recipient questions. |
| Average cycle time | Leave difficult items open while easy ones finish | Show open-item age and the spread of completed times. |
| Planned-work completion rate | Quietly shrink the starting plan | Preserve original scope and record approved changes. |
A companion check need not become another target. Its first job is to show whether the headline still represents useful work. A concerning result calls for investigation, not an automatic accusation.
Check completion and displaced work
Agree with the recipient on what must be true before an item counts as complete, including essential review or handover. Keep the rule proportionate to the work. Mark any change in definition so earlier and later numbers are not compared as though they used the same standard.
Inspect unusually fast, slow and repeatedly returned items, along with ordinary cases. Looking only at failures would distort the picture. Trace the handover to the intended recipient.
A faster first response may still leave final resolution slow; more drafts may leave reviewers with extra repair work. Ask who absorbed any additional work.
Ask workers whether the target creates pressure to skip breaks, conceal concerns or accept more work than can be handled safely. Their accounts are evidence about those conditions even when they do not fit the dashboard. Potential work-design risks need consultation and the appropriate workplace response.
Revise a measure that fails
If a shortcut appears, establish whether the completion rule, target, workflow or available capacity contributed. Address any affected work, then revise the measure or its use. Tell people what changed and inspect later cases. A higher number is useful only while the result remains usable and its costs are visible.
