If you have been following this blog for a while, then you know I am very interested in how measurement drives behavior, particularly if it drives the wrong behaviors. Recently I heard another great example from an English colleague of mine.
As I understand, there is a performance indicator in the British healthcare system that measures how many appointments with a general practitioner can be made within 48 hours.
My colleague wanted to see the doctor for something completely non-urgent. He called on Monday, asking for an appointment for Friday. The assistant friendly asked him if he could call back on Wednesday, the assistant was not allowed to make appointments more than 48 hours out.
A clear case of running the numbers, instead of running the business.
Do you have examples as well? Let me know!
--frank
Comments (3)
I've had the same experience in the California. Also, when the practice implemented the 48 hour appointment policy, they also implemented a 15 minute standard appointment (instead of 30 minutes). This helped them free up the schedule for more appointments and more flexibility, but now people have to remember to make two appointments in a row or come back to get multiple issues addressed.
The other misguided metric that frustrates me frequently are "time to close" metrics for helpdesks. Helpdesk workers, focused on keeping their performance rating high are hesitant to help users with multiple different issues in a row, or to wait on the line while a longer trouble-shooting action is taken by the caller. The helpdesk may have had a great "time-to-close" rating, but end up with unsatisfied customers.
Posted by Carilu Dietrich | July 10, 2008 11:49 AM
Posted on July 10, 2008 11:49
Herinner je je, Frank, dat, op een Gartner congres in Londen ooit een Telecom bedrijf heeft gesproken uit Zuid Afrika ?
Zij hadden een Behaviour expert in hun BICC omdat die zich naar hun zeggen terug verdiende.
Elk cijfer, elke rapportage met harde cijfers, be??nvloedt naar hun zeggen het gedrag van de betrokkenen. Sindsdien heb ik contact met deze Thomas Arpin (die de presentatie verzorgde) en probeer ik een interview te regelen voor Database Magazine en ooit komt dat er nog wel van. Maar ja,.... Zuid Afrika is niet naast de deur.
Ze hebben zulke interessante en vernieuwende idee?
Posted by Karien Verhagen | July 19, 2008 1:44 AM
Posted on July 19, 2008 01:44
Bragana??s law
Sometimes, statistics arena??t a reliable way to look at a problem.
a??Say you were standing with one foot in the oven and one foot in an ice bucket. According to the percentage people, you would be perfectly comfortable.a??
Posted by Philippe Jacqmin | July 24, 2008 7:24 AM
Posted on July 24, 2008 07:24