To better understand and improve your systems, you must measure and map their essential characteristics. Yet, because your systems and their associated processes occur over varying spatial and temporal scales, you will need various types of maps and metrics depending on the level of detail and understanding required.During nearly four decades of experience helping clients across various industries understand, measure, and improve the performance of their processes, Jerry L. Harbour discovered a handful of performance maps that will work in most settings. As such, he's gathered these critical few maps into The Performance Mapping and Measurement Handbook. In this handbook, Dr. Harbour explains performance mapping and measurement techniques at widely differing spatial and temporal scales. Using real-world examples and language that is easy to understand, he demonstrates the effective use of: Node-link maps Process activity maps Process step maps Basic task element maps Event pathway maps Response timeline maps Key performance driver maps Filled with graphical illustrations, the book can be read sequentially or used as a "How do I do that?" reference book. It includes easy-to-follow explanations along with numerous examples of both good and bad implementation. In addition, it includes case studies from a wide range of operational and industrial settings that clearly demonstrate how the mapping and measurement techniques described in the book can be applied to new technologies and processes.

You can't understand, manage, or improve what you don't measure While every smart executive now knows the truth of those words, perhaps more so than anyone, it was Jerry Harbour who turned that adage into a science. Originally published in 1997, The Basics of Performance Measurement helped pioneer the science of performance measurement and continues to serve as an industry standard. Yet, despite the book's continued relevancy, Harbour is once again stepping ahead of the curve to fully update his little yellow book. In addition to adding the wisdom of lessons learned over the past decade, he adds two new chapters to this second edition. One of these chapters discusses units of measurement. The other introduces ways to better interpret what has been measured and then translate those measurement-related interpretations into actionable knowledge. Harbour provides a six-step method for developing a performance measurement system. He shows how to design performance measurement families and how to build hierarchies tailored to different levels within an organization. He also covers collection and distribution, as well as the value of performance measure displays. When you finish this book, you will be able to undertake performance measurement with new confidence. You will also come away knowing how to present your findings with an authority that will convince stakeholders of the importance and accuracy of your results.

As companies continue their efforts to improve work performance, they must ensure that their ongoing Lean activities include a healthy appreciation for, and recognition of, human performance. Ignoring the human component of work performance can be a recipe for unnecessary waste, inefficiency, and decreased productivity. Lean Human Performance Improvement presents a broad overview of human performance in the workplace. The author discusses his findings from a broad spectrum of human performance-related fields and diverse industrial sectors (gained by working in the field for over 30 years). Organized in three sections, this book covers understanding human performance, analyzing and improving work productivity, and analyzing and improving quality and safety. The author first develops a fundamental and basic understanding of human performance, then couples that understanding with learning how to analyze and improve human-related work productivity and quality and safety. He also discusses how knowledge and skills transfer from one work setting to another. Intended for Lean Six Sigma team members and human performance improvement practitioners, the book contains multiple examples from diverse work settings to explain key points. It also includes several major case studies. The goal of all examples and case studies is to develop a generic understanding that, in turn, can be successfully applied to any work setting.

You can t understand, manage, or improve what you don t measure

While every smart executive now knows the truth of those words, perhaps more so than anyone, it was Jerry Harbour who turned that adage into a science. Originally published in 1997, The Basics of Performance Measurement helped pioneer the science of performance measurement and continues to serve as an industry standard.

Yet, despite the book s continued relevancy, Harbour is once again stepping ahead of the curve to fully update his little yellow book. In addition to adding the wisdom of lessons learned over the past decade, he adds two new chapters to this second edition. One of these chapters discusses units of measurement. The other introduces ways to better interpret what has been measured and then translate those measurement-related interpretations into actionable knowledge.

Harbour provides a six-step method for developing a performance measurement system. He shows how to design performance measurement families and how to build hierarchies tailored to different levels within an organization. He also covers collection and distribution, as well as the value of performance measure displays. When you finish this book, you will be able to undertake performance measurement with new confidence. You will also come away knowing how to present your findings with an authority that will convince stakeholders of the importance and accuracy of your results.

How does performance improve? A simple yet often unexplored question. To quantify it, it must be measured. To measure it, it must be understood. The good news is that once we actually examine how to test performance, a number of basic principles and natural laws emerge. Principles and laws with universal applications across diverse subjects, and when correctly applied, not only unravel the mystery of how performance improves, but how you can improve performance in your organization. The Performance Paradox explores the misunderstood subject of performance. While examining the varying measures of performance, the author discusses how to find what is true - that is, what is known and what is not known about performance, what needs to be known, what is useful, and what is not. The book exposes hype and fad and helps you embrace fact and reality. Sprinkled throughout you will find sage and practical advice which can be translated into concrete action irrespective of your intended area of application. Based on extensive research by the author, this book provides a deeper understanding what measures of performance can actually tell us about performance or, more specifically what they can tell us about how performance does and does not improve and the practical implications of such derived insights. By examining real-world examples of how abstract ideas can be concretely applied, Jerry Harbour can help transform any business or organization into a high-performance one where results are obtained, rather than imagined.