Business is an active competition. Other businesses are working hard to beat you ever day. Businesses must perform, or cease to exist. Nonprofit organizations aren’t exempt. They must compete for donor money to survive.

For an organization to perform, it’s team members must perform. Good morale, flexibility from leadership, positive communication – these are important. So are standards, measurement, and consequences.

Do your team members know what levels of performance will meet your standards?

Are you measuring individual performance so it can be compared objectively and consistently to those standards? Can everyone see it on a spreadsheet, or better yet, a visual graph?

Does something happen when a team member or a whole team doesn’t meet the standard? Is there a consequence? What about when they exceed the standard?

Performance management needs defined metrics, accurate measurement, and specific standards. And if the standards are real, not just wishes, the experiences of the team members must be different when they fall short, meet, or exceed the standards. These are part of what it takes to be a team that wins and lasts.