1 Balanced Scorecards for Colleges and Universities: Development and Deployment

2 Balanced Scorecards Jan W. Lyddon, Ph.D. Executive Vice President San Jacinto College

3 What is a Balanced Scorecard ? ► A measurement system ► Strategic management system, and ► Communication tool

4 Why A Balanced Scorecard? ► Increased requirements for accountability ► Keep our eye on what’s most important ► Focus especially on major outcomes

5 Primary Uses ► Monitoring key items ► Communication of priority areas for action ► Myth busting – real results

6 What Is It? Visual display of the most important information needed to achieve one or more objectives which fits entirely on a single screen or sheet so it can be monitored at a glance. Stephen Few, 2006

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9 What is on it? ► Performance Indicators:  From strategic or other plan  Of key decisions or objectives  Usually highly aggregated data  Maximum 15 – 20  Called Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

10 Kinds of Indicators ► Indicators should be:  A balance of perspectives ► Student perspectives, process perspectives, learning perspectives are examples ► Also called categories

11 Kinds of Indicators, cont’d ► Indicators should be:  A balance of leading and lagging indicators ► Inputs as well as outputs or outcomes measures

12 Who uses it? ► Key decision makers  Monitor regularly ► Key policy makers  To make informed decisions  To communicate with external stakeholders ► Internal stakeholders  To help align their actions with overall purposes

13 Components of the Indicators ► The actual performance, expressed in numerical terms ► The target, benchmark, or objective ► The difference between actual performance and the objective  Signal values indicate how far from the objective or target (“best, middle, worst”)

14 Categories for Indicators ► Four or five categories:  Strategic plan goals, or  Perspectives, such as: ► Stakeholder ► Processes ► Learning and innovation ► Financial

15 Examples of Indicators ► Stakeholder:  Student satisfaction  Student retention and graduation rates  Community support ► Processes:  Continuous improvement initiatives  Time required to complete DE  Efficiency measures (e.g., percentage of seats filled)

16 Examples of Indicators, Cont’d ► Learning and innovation:  Professional development impacts  New programs ► Resources:  Enrollment  Donations  Budget balance

17 Jackson Community College - Balanced Scorecard

18 Development Process Steps in Building Your Balanced Scorecard

19 Development Process ► Identify project partners:  Project champion  Content provider  Technology support

20 Development Process ► Identify Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)  15 – 20 maximum

21 Development Process ► Work with process stakeholders  Refine definitions of data  Develop methods of display and update  Ensure their understanding

22 Development Process ► Set benchmarks, targets or signal values  Comparisons with other institutions  Comparisons with past performance  Comparisons with goals

23 Development Process ► Signal Values  Three levels – ► Best ► Middle ► Worst

24 Signal Values – Example 1

25 Signal Values – Example 2

26 Establishing Signal Values ► Base them on:  Institutional past performance  Institutional goals  Comparisons with other organizations

27 Development Process ► Design the display and delivery mechanism  One screen or one page  Avoid clutter  Provide detail by using hyperlinks  Decide who will have access

28 Development Process ► Hyperlinks example:  KPI = overall student satisfaction ► Detail = student satisfaction with  academics  services

29 Hyperlinks in Excel

30 Development Process ► Usage and updates  Project champion should monitor frequently ► Other key decision makers should monitor also ► Inform others of how often the data change  Who should access ► Wide-spread  few users ► Help with “fear factor”

31 Benefits of a Scorecard ► Useful in guiding strategic plan development:  One college used its scorecard data to identify areas where it was consistently below targets.  The Board identified five strategic goals for the new strategic plan.

32 Benefits of a Scorecard, cont’d ► Increased internal alignment:  Visible targets and performance informs operational unit and individual plans

33 Increased Alignment

34 Benefits of a Scorecard, cont’d ► Establishes a culture of evidence at the college

35 Next Steps ► Evaluate and improve some of the measures, such as those that: ► Are not a valid measure of what is being done ► Not possible to measure often enough or difficult to measure ► Benchmarks with better measures are available

36 Next Steps ► Evaluate and improve some of the measures  Develop leading indicators: ► “Measures that indicate progress against a process or behavior. These measures are helpful in predicting the future outcome of an objective.” Balanced Scorecard Collaborative

37 Next Steps ► Review the signal values:  Develop more robust targets ► Achieving the Dream database ► National CC Benchmark Project ► IPEDS Peer Analysis System ► State data ► Other professional sources

38 Next Steps ► Increase alignment of departmental or unit data with overall performance indicators ► Develop cascading scorecards

39 Lessons Learned ► Monitor regularly  Presidential commitment is crucial ► Be sure measures are balanced ► Align the measures with the plan ► Keep the scorecard display straightforward (“Keep It Simple & Straightforward – KISS)

40 Lessons Learned ► What is measured gets noticed ► What is noticed gets acted on ► What is acted on gets improved Dee W. Hook presentation Phenomenon of Measurement

41 Want to know more? ► Contact me:  Jan W. Lyddon, Ph.D. ► ► Read:  Few, Stephen Information Dashboard Design: The Effective Visual Communication of Data. Sabastopol, CA: O’Reilly Media, Inc.  Kaplan, Robert S. & David P. Norton The Balanced Scorecard: Translating Strategy Into Action. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.  Niven, Paul R Balanced Scorecard Step-by-Step for Government and Nonprofit Agencies. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.