What Really Matters?

This week we started a new book in class, “Measure What Matters” by Katie Paine. 

The book is what you think it would be about, measurement. We talk about measurement in a lot of my classes, including public relations and business. Measurement is stressed to be so important, but I would be lying if I said I completely understood it. 

Chapter 1 of the book starts out by saying, “you can now measure everything, but you won’t survive without the metrics that matter to your business.” I think this is where I get confused the most; what am I really supposed to be measuring? The book gives an answer I wasn’t expecting, but hear all the time. The key to businesses is the relationships the organization has with its customers; therefore, if you are not measuring the quality of relationships, the business will fail. Once again, the answer is always relationships. 

The Student Planning Committee uses the Facebook analytics to measure the reach of our posts and events. It is a small scale of measurement, but we have been trying to see what the measurements are telling us. We are able to figure out when to post and who typically attends our events. Essentially, we are measuring the relationships SPC has with the students at ONU.

The book also mentions measurement being something people think about doing when the program is over. I have always used measurement this way because it makes the most sense. However, the book says measurement should be set at the beginning of the program to ensure effectiviness and accuracy in results.

So far this book seems engaging and informative. I am only in Chapter 1 and I have already learned a great deal of topics I never knew about. I look forward to blogging more about this book!