Successful startups know that tracking project and overall team progress is crucial at any stage. For instance, performance analysis in a startup setting can be extremely valuable, especially when handling shoestring budgets and breakneck delivery dates. Employee performance analysis software can also provide key insights into a team’s workflow and profitability.
According to a recent study by Harvard Business School (in which over 35,000 global companies were evaluated), thriving startups rely on each of the following:
- Experimentation. It helps established brands find new ideas and new startups fail faster (for better or worse).
- A/B Testing. A concrete and repeatable process with measurable results gives the experimentation its much-needed structure.
- Performance analysis. Once you’ve created and optimized your processes, you need to review your results and find ways to apply the data in a practical way.
What is performance analysis?
In a nutshell, performance analysis is observing workflows, projects, and other pertinent day-to-day activities in order to identify strengths and weaknesses. This big picture analysis helps give company directors more focus and clarity into how their teams work. Because, once you know where you can improve, it’s a lot easier to find innovative solutions.
Surprisingly, there are many parallels between business performance analysis and sports performance analysis. In any major sport, there are measurable statistics you can easily track, compare, and improve on—both as a team and on an individual basis. In the workplace, it's your job to define these parameters, put a data gathering system in place, and ultimately find out how to get the best scores possible from your very own team.
Why is performance analysis important?
There are many advantages of performance evaluation and they fall under two main ideas:
1. Performance analysis fuels employee satisfaction.
One of the biggest obstacles for employee morale is the idea that their work isn’t meaningful or that it goes unnoticed. Putting a system in place that guarantees their efforts will be acknowledged can help boost their mood. Not only will they receive praise where it’s deserved, but they’ll also have a better understanding of how they are evaluated and what skills they can improve on.
Performance analysis tools also enable managers to spot weak points in teams and provide additional support and training. It’s also easier to spot high achievers and groom them for promotions down the line.
2. Performance analysis gives everyone an equal opportunity to succeed.
Workplaces that use performance analysis do a good job of minimizing favoritism and misplaced credit. Clarifying key priorities and performance criteria evens the playing field for employees. In this model, when everyone is being measured by the same stick, they all have equal opportunity for success (to a certain degree, of course).
How does performance analysis help startups?
Startups need to embrace performance analysis if they want to pivot faster, avoid burnout, and increase productivity. Not doing these things, by the way, are a few of the main reasons why most startups fail. Clearly, startups can benefit from placing extra focus on these areas if they’re looking to grow as fast as possible (or, at the very least, stay in business).
How does employee performance analysis software help?
It’s easier to pull it all off when you have a clear view of your performance analytics. Here are some of the advantages you can gain with Wrike’s advanced analytics tools and widgets.
- Clear graphs and charts that gather and synthesize data analytics
- Reporting that is actionable and easy to digest
- Dashboards that help identify productivity strengths and weaknesses at a glance
How performance analysis helps companies measure profitability
The best performance analysis tools all have one common goal: help startups make more money. This is why leading software programs like Wrike Analyze include flexible features that make your numbers actionable.
Using customizable analytics widgets, Analytics View gives you the most up to date view of your resources, budgets, and project management all in one place. New information is automatically calculated daily so you and your team are always up to date. This makes it easier to spot performance issues before they interfere with progress.
Conversely, it can also help you identify areas where performance really shines. From there, you can easily templatize and duplicate your greatest success areas for future projects and other teams.
Understand the true value of business
Performance analysis is so much more than just timelines and budgets. It's a dependable system startups can use to consistently assess profits and manage resources using real data. Sneak a peek at Wrike Analyze and discover new ways to increase productivity for your company.
