How Do You Know Your UC Investment Is Paying Off?: Page 2 of 2

Continued from Page 1

Rethink Your Productivity Index

Before an organization can switch to an outcome-based productivity model, it must establish a productivity index, comprising specific outcomes deemed to be important to the organization. In the engineering example mentioned earlier, Ziegler recommended evaluating the engineering team's performance using "big" outcome-focused questions like:

1. Are you delivering value for the customer?
2. Are you delivering results each quarter that will help grow the business?
3. Are you mitigating risk?
4. Do you know the ROI of the features you're building?
5. Did you ship when you said you would ship?

When identifying the factors for measuring productivity at your organization, the key is to ask yourself how each outcome-focused question can lead to a relevant outcome for your business. In my recent No Jitter article, "How to Finesse Post-M&A Collaboration," I shared a personal example from my previous role of collaboration engineering and delivery manager at Merck. Seemingly simple activities -- like contacting a new boss or talking to new team members -- become very complex following Merck's mega merger with Schering-Plough, with facilities and employees spread across several continents. Following the merger, I saw varying levels of commitment to due diligence regarding communications. At one end of the spectrum are those who "rip the Band-Aid off" and force in new technology, dragging their users chaotically through change. On the opposite end are leaders who take time to assess the situation, design properly, implement in phases, survey their users, and leverage data for informed decision making.

In a recent CIO article, Eric Bloom, president of IT leadership development firm Manager Mechanics, discussed another prerequisite for measuring productivity, which is understanding the dependence of each department within a company. Every department within IT, for instance, is part of an overall technical ecosystem that is connected to all other departments in some way. For example, business analysis provides functional specifications to the programmers. Trainers provide classes that help programmers learn their craft. Database administrators design database schemas for use by the programmers, etc. If any of these departments fall short in the execution of their responsibilities, then IT and the company it services could fail.

While identifying and documenting departmental dependencies and conducting a communications assessment may not have an immediate and/or direct tie-in to UC&C cost savings, it will provide clarity on several relevant business outcomes, which collectively can be used to gauge the return on engagement (ROE) of the communications system.

In the coming weeks, I'll explore the ROE concept further and consider the key components of a UC&C ROE strategy, including:

1. Conducting assessments. Look at your current UC&C solution and evaluate all the ways your organization is currently using it and consider new ways it might use it. For example, if you're currently using streaming video for quarterly town hall meetings, perhaps you might also use it for onboarding new employees or conducting employee trainings.
2. Establishing benchmarks. If you were utilizing your UC&C platform to its fullest potential, what would that look like? We'll explore this and look at ways to identify and set key benchmarks.
3. Determining your productivity indexes. After establishing benchmarks, we'll look at creating indexes an organization can use to identify performance gaps, track improvements, and make adjustments.

Evaluating ROE is about much more than controlling costs; it goes to the heart of issues that next-gen workplaces care about, such as improving the workforce and customer experience. While these metrics will continue to allude shortsighted enterprises, those that see the value of improving employee and customer engagement will also see a positive ROI on their UC&C investment in the long term.