Conducting Productivity Audits

Quality metrics are fundamental to effective quality management systems, shaping business performance. Here are six key metrics to enhance your operations: 1. Quality Rate: - Percentage of products/services meeting quality standards - High rate indicates effective processes and satisfied customers - Low rate signals improvement opportunities 2. Rework Percentage: - Proportion of work requiring redoing due to defects/errors - High percentage highlights process inefficiencies, leading to increased costs and resource wastage 3. Defective Parts Per Million (DPPM): - Quantifies defective parts in a million produced - Vital for manufacturers to spot defect trends and enhance production processes 4. Defects Per Million Opportunities (DPMO): - Considers total defect opportunities for a comprehensive quality assessment - Helps organizations target specific areas for improvement and assess processes holistically 5. Process Capability: - Evaluates process output within defined limits - Aids in maintaining process consistency and meeting customer demands effectively 6. Process Capability Index (Cpk): - Enhances process capability analysis by measuring centredness within specifications - Higher Cpk signifies better performance and reduced process variability These metrics play a crucial role in driving continuous improvement and ensuring operational excellence. #QualityManagement #BusinessPerformance

AI isn't replacing consultants, it's making them irreplacable. But only the ones who know how to use AI. Master these prompts or fall behind. Clients demand faster insights. Manual analysis can’t keep up. Let AI handle the grunt work. You handle the strategy. Here are 10 ways to 10x consulting efficiency: 1. Data Analysis at Lightspeed → Analyze 10 years of sales data in seconds. → Identify hidden growth drivers most consultants miss. 2. Automated Market Research → Summarize 200-page industry reports in 2 minutes. → Map competitor strategies across 5+ channels instantly. 3. Strategy Blueprints in 1 Click → Generate SWOT/PESTEL frameworks tailored to client needs. → Add timelines and ownership matrices automatically. 4. Competitor Tracking on Autopilot → Monitor 100+ competitor moves across web/social/news. → Get alerts for new product launches daily. 5. Financial Modeling Made Simple → Build 3-year projections with 5 scenario simulations. → Auto-highlight ROI drivers for client presentations. 6. Slide Decks That Sell → Turn raw data into branded decks in 8 minutes. → Apply Fortune 500 design principles with one prompt. 7. Risk Mitigation Mastery → Flag 15+ operational risks from trend analysis. → Generate mitigation playbooks clients will pay premium for. 8. Real-Time Performance Tracking → Auto-update KPIs using live client data feeds. → Send weekly progress reports without lifting a finger. 9. Future-Proof Scenario Planning → Simulate market crashes or disruptions in 3 clicks. → Test 10 strategic responses before recommending one. 10. AI Upskilling Roadmaps → Build 45-day upskilling plans for consulting teams. → Curate courses/resources to future-proof your practice. Your clients expect faster, sharper insights. AI delivers only if you know how to use it. Implement one use case this week. ♻️ Repost to help your network. Follow me at Hassan Bin Arshad for AI-powered consulting tactics. Your AI consulting edge starts now.

Fascinating new research from Microsoft reveals the gap between how developers want to spend their time and how they actually allocate it. The study shows that developers spend the most time on meetings and debugging, but would prefer to allocate significantly more time to coding, architecting, and designing systems. What's most interesting: the researchers found a direct correlation between this gap and both productivity and satisfaction. The larger the mismatch between ideal and actual time allocation, the less productive and satisfied developers are. The study also challenges the current focus of AI tools in software development. While many AI tools focus on coding assistance, developers actually want to spend more time on coding, not less—and automate other tasks like documentation, environment setup, and security & compliance. Read my summary of the findings from this study:

One of the hottest topics in AI is evals (evaluations). Effective Humans + AI assessment of outputs is essential for building scalable self-improving products. Here is the case being laid out for evals in product development. 🔥 Evals are the hidden lever of AI product success. Evaluations—not prompts, not model choice—are what separate mediocre AI products from exceptional ones. Industry leaders like Kevin Weil (OpenAI), Mike Krieger (Anthropic), and Garry Tan (YC) all call evals the defining skill for product managers. 🧭 Evals define what “good” means in AI. Unlike traditional software tests with binary pass/fail outcomes, AI evals must measure subjective qualities like accuracy, tone, coherence, and usefulness. Good evals act like a “driving test,” setting criteria across awareness, decision-making, and safety. ⚙️ Three core approaches dominate evals. PMs rely on three methods: human evals (direct but costly), code-based evals (fast but limited to deterministic checks), and LLM-as-judge evals (scalable but probabilistic). The strongest systems blend them—human judgments set the gold standard, while LLM judges extend coverage and scalability. 📐 Every strong eval has four parts. Effective evals set the role, provide the context, define the goal, and standardize labels/scoring. Without this structure, evals drift into vague “vibe checks.” 🔄 The eval flywheel drives iteration speed. The intention should be to drive a positive feedback loop where evals enable debugging, fine-tuning, and synthetic data generation. This cycle compounds over time, becoming a moat for successful AI startups. 📊 Bottom-up metrics reveal real failure modes. While common criteria include hallucination, safety, tone, and relevance, the most effective teams identify metrics directly from data. Human audits paired with automated checks help surface the real-world patterns generic metrics often miss. 👥 Human oversight keeps AI honest. LLM-as-judge systems make evals scalable, but without periodic human calibration, they drift. The most reliable products maintain a human-in-the-loop review loop—auditing eval results, correcting blind spots, and ensuring that automated judgments remain aligned with real user expectations. 📈 PMs must treat evals like product metrics. Just as PMs track funnels, churn, and retention, AI PMs must monitor eval dashboards for accuracy, safety, trust, contextual awareness, and helpfulness. Declining repeat usage, rising hallucination rates, or style mismatches should be treated as product health warnings. Some say this case is overstated, and point to the lack of reliability of evals or the relatively low current in use in AI dev pipelines. However this is largely a question of working out how to do them well, especially effectively integrating human judgment into the process.

Are appraisals about the past or the future? If we only reward/review what’s already been done, we’re missing the bigger picture. The real drivers of success aren’t just those who meet their KPIs; they’re the ones who solve unseen problems, take initiative, and push boundaries. Yet, most appraisal conversations follow a predictable pattern: * What did you achieve? * Here’s your rating. * This is your increment. End of discussion. Imagine the potential of an employee walking out thinking "This is what I can become. This is my path to success" rather than just leaving with satisfaction (or dissatisfaction) around the past. What should appraisals actually do? 1. Recognize contribution beyond the obvious – Not all impact fits neatly into a KPI. Some of the most valuable contributions don’t show up on spreadsheets. 2. Fuel ambition, not just determine compensation – A great appraisal conversation should leave employees inspired, not just informed. 3. Set a challenge for the future – If appraisals only reflect on the past, we’re not leading, we’re just keeping scores. For those walking into their appraisal discussions: • Don’t just list achievements, own your journey. Share both wins and failures. Acknowledging mistakes (along with what you learned) shows maturity, self-awareness, and a growth mindset. • If you’re aiming for a promotion, make a case for it. What skills, contributions, and initiatives make you ready for the next role? Saying "I deserve it" isn’t enough, demonstrate why. • Come with a plan, not just expectations. What challenges do you want to take on next? How do you want to grow? Leaders notice those who take charge of their own development. As leaders, we need to think whether we are merely evaluating performance or are we unlocking potential? As employees - are we waiting for recognition or driving our own growth? Appraisals should be more than a retrospective, they should be a launchpad. Would love to hear your thoughts on the same. #AppraisalSeason #Leadership #GrowthMindset

Are your senior ICs disproportionately taking the available “exceeds expectations” ratings up for grabs? ___________ Performance rating inflation becomes more pronounced at senior IC levels. In Pave’s dataset, 26% of P1s receive a performance rating 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 than “meets expectations”. But for P6s, 40% receive a rating 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 than “meets expectations”. And for P6s, only 6% receive a performance rating 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗲 than “meets expectations”. ___________ Some takeaways: 1️⃣ There is probably a degree of “career survivorship bias” for the ICs who make it to the senior levels in their discipline. If they’ve made it that far in their career, they’re more likely to be top performers versus a P1/new-grad trying out a job perhaps for the first time. So it perhaps makes some sense that performance ratings are more inflated for senior levels. 2️⃣ In addition to looking at performance rating distributions across the company and broken down by department, 𝗜 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝘁 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗯𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗯𝗿𝗼𝗸𝗲𝗻 𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗯𝘆 𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗵𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁. This will help flag potential anomalies or issues in your company’s incentive system. 3️⃣ A very tangible consequence of the rating inflation skewed towards senior levels is that merit cycle planning can take an unpredicted “peanut butter” turn which may hurt pay-for-performance interests. This is because a 10% raise on a $100k salary is $10k, whereas a 10% raise on a $300k salary is $30k. And if the employees with the $300k salaries are the ones consuming a higher proportion of the “available” exceeds expectations, the average raise amounts percentage-wise will often end up smaller than hoped for in order to make the top line budget math work. ___________ Methodology: Our data science team mapped all available performance ratings from various systems (3-rating, 4-rating, 5-rating, 9-box, etc) into three categories–below meets expectations, equivalent to meets expectations, and above meets expectations. Then, the results were broken down by job level. All 40,000+ incumbent data points in this analysis come from Pave customers who used the compensation planning tool for 2024 merit cycles. #pave #performancerating #benchmarks

𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐀𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐬 : 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐧𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 ? Appraisals are often seen as a scorecard, a moment in time where performance is measured and rated. But shouldn't we be looking at these another way? Performance appraisals have long been perceived as an evaluation tool and an assessment of what’s been achieved in the past year. But if we truly want to develop talent, we must shift the lens. 𝐀𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧; 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐚 𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 A holistic appraisal is much more than ratings and checkboxes. While performance metrics and KPIs provide structure, they don’t capture the full picture. What about the challenges an employee navigated? The skills they acquired? The impact they created beyond defined goals? Their aspirations for the future? If appraisals only measure the past, they miss the opportunity to shape what comes next. This is where feedforward becomes critical—shifting the focus from evaluation to evolution. Instead of just identifying gaps, conversations should center around where an individual wants to go, what skills they need, and how the organization can support that journey. The shift from once a year review to a continuous feedback culture is just as important. Growth is built through ongoing dialogue, coaching, and alignment between individual potential and business needs. When approached this way, appraisals build careers and strengthen the organization’s future. What practices have you experienced/ implemented that made your performance appraisal mechanisms richer? #PerformanceManagement #Feedforward #Appraisals2025

𝙎𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙨: 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗘𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝗔𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝗘𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗕𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗰𝗸𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗗𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗠𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹𝘀 Digitizing the operating model isn’t just implementing new tools—it needs identifying and removing bottlenecks that slow down outcomes. Enterprise architects 𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗲𝘀, 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗳𝗹𝗼𝘄𝘀 that enable smoother operations. How can enterprise architects fix bottlenecks in digital operating models? Here are 𝟯 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽𝘀 to get started: 𝟭 | 𝗛𝗼𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗔𝘂𝗱𝗶𝘁 Map current state of your workflows and identify redundancies and bottlenecks. • 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘴: A comprehensive view highlights inefficiencies less obvious in isolated processes. • 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘪𝘵: Use EA tools to document end-to-end workflows. Collaborate with cross-functional teams to uncover pain points, such as delays in approvals, duplicated efforts, or manual handoffs. Prioritize for highest impact. 𝟮 | 𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗲𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗧𝗮𝘀𝗸𝘀 Leverage automation on time-consuming, low-value activities and free up resources. • 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘴: Automation reduces errors, speeds up workflows, and allows teams to focus on higher-value tasks. • 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘪𝘵: Identify repetitive processes—such as data entry, report generation, or order approvals—that can be automated. Ensure automation initiatives align with the larger digital operating model. 𝟯 | 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗳𝘆 Standardizing processes across teams and departments helps create consistency and improves collaboration. • 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘴: Simplified and uniform workflows reduce confusion, streamline communication, and enhance scalability. • 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘪𝘵: Develop and govern workflow standards that align with business objectives. For example, standardize how teams manage data entry or customer interactions to eliminate variation that slows down performance. Enterprise architects play a critical role in streamlining operations by identifying bottlenecks, introducing automation, and enforcing standardization. These steps ensure digital operating models run smoothly and align with organizational goals. _ 👍 Like if you enjoyed this. ♻️ Repost for your network.  ➕ Follow Kevin Donovan 🔔 _ 🚀 Join Architects' Hub!  Sign up for our newsletter. Connect with a community that gets it. Improve skills, meet peers, and elevate your career! Subscribe 👉 https://lnkd.in/dgmQqfu2 #EnterpriseArchitecture #DigitalTransformation #ProcessOptimization #OperationalEfficiency #Innovation

Behaviors are learned and reinforced. To make performance evaluations more inclusive, you need to proactively craft new practices. 🧠 Unbiasing nudges, intentional and subtle adjustments I craft with my clients, can play a pivotal role in achieving an objective and inclusive performance assessment. 👇 Here is what to consider: 🔎 Key Decision Points Analyze your evaluation process to identify key decision points. In my practice, focusing on assessment, performance goal setting, and feedback processes has proven crucial. Introduce inclusive prompts at each stage to guide unbiased decision-making. 🔎 Common Biases Examine previous reviews to unearth prevailing biases. Halo/horn effects, recency bias, and affinity bias often surface. Counteract these biases by crafting nudges tailored to your organization, integrating them seamlessly into your review spreadsheets. 🔎 Behavioral Prompts I usually develop concise pre-decision checklists tailored to each organization. The goal is to support raters' metacognition and introduce timed prompts during the evaluation process. 🔎 Feedback Loops Begin with small-scale implementation and collect feedback. Compare perceptions of both raters and ratees to gauge effectiveness. 🔎 Ongoing Training Avoid off-the-shelf solutions; instead, tailor training to your organization's unique context and patterns. Your trainer should understand your specific needs and design a continuous training program that reinforces these unbiasing nudges, providing managers with the necessary competencies. 🔎 Pilot and Evaluation Define metrics to measure progress and impact. Pilot your unbiasing nudges and regularly evaluate their effectiveness. Adjust based on feedback and insights gained during the pilot phase. 👉 Crafting inclusive performance evaluations is an ongoing journey. Yet, I believe, it's one of the most important ones. Each evaluation matters as it defines a person's career and sometimes even the future. ________________________________________ Are you looking for more DEI x Performance-related recommendations like this?  📨 Join my free DEI Newsletter:

Navigating performance appraisals at the end of the year can become a pressure point for leaders. How do you as a leader ensure a fair and constructive appraisal while avoiding conflict, and providing meaningful feedback that would strengthen the individual and team, as well as ensure growth? This week, our leader's conversation will consider how to prepare for purposeful appraisal conversations. Performance appraisals don't have to just be a procedural task. Instead, they are a chance to align the growth of those you lead, manage, or supervise, with broader organizational goals. For senior leaders, investing time in purposeful preparation transforms these conversations into meaningful, future-focused interactions. Imagine you’re preparing to meet Sarah, a project lead who excels in innovation but has struggled with meeting deadlines. The aim here is to celebrate her strengths while addressing opportunities for improvement. How do you purposefully prepare for her appraisal? ✅ First, gather comprehensive data. This will include a review of performance metrics, project milestones, and peer feedback to form a well-rounded view. It is wise to include tangible examples, like the specific project Sarah excelled in, but also note any delays or areas where she needed support. This demonstrates that your feedback is fact-based, not subjective. ✅ Secondly, focus on growth opportunities. Rather than solely addressing past performance, consider what Sarah’s next steps should be. Could she benefit from time management training? Is there a mentor who could guide her? Framing feedback around growth opportunities shows her that you’re invested in her career development. ✅ Thirdly, clarify desired outcomes for the coming year. Clear, measurable goals are essential. For Sarah, this might mean successfully hitting all project milestones in the next quarter or collaborating on team planning. Defining success not only motivates team members but also gives clarity and aligns them with organizational priorities. All this is to say, preparation is not just about evaluation. It is not about enduring or engaging in a not-fun activity. It is about investing in your team’s success. When you come prepared, you can approach each conversation with curiosity, clarity, purpose, and genuine support for your team’s growth. How do you typically prepare for appraisals? Let’s share strategies in the comments. #careers #leaders #leadership #womeninleadership #womenwholead #professionalwomen #personaldevelopment #management #motivation