The question is not how much time you’re spending on your projects, but more about the value you create in the time spent. A high performing time utilizes time to build value for themselves and their organisation. They question themselves on what they can do to deliver something that will solve the problem for the users. They put their heart and soul into the work they do. They are not afraid to speak their minds and truth when needed. These teams take pride in their work and push boundaries of excellence.

1. Understand Priorities :

The pace at which things change in business and technology is quite alarming. The best performing Tech teams understand the priorities of the work that they do. They understand how schedule of the deliverables is critical to meeting the business objectives. These teams respond to the dynamically changing nature of requirements and priority of work as per needs.

2. Use the right Technology :

Technology is a tool to accomplish the use case for the client. Top IT teams fully understand this. They use the best tools and technology to accomplish the required tasks. Sometimes, it is easier to run after the fads and lose perspective of what is needed to do the job. However, matured IT teams thoroughly scrutinize the deliverables and use the right tools to achieve them.

3. Keep themselves Updated :

When teams are working on demanding projects, it can get extremely overwhelming. They slog day in and day out to meet the deadlines. However, one of the most important things that differentiate the ordinary teams from the extra ordinary ones is their passion for learning. They find out ways to share knowledge and information to keep refining their skills. It is the up to date skills and indepth expertise that helps these teams to make the best technology choices. The best teams are always learning and upgrading their skills. The passion to learn and ability to use the learning for solving the toughest problems creates top teams.

4. Agility & Efficiency :

The shelf life of technology is limited. Time is the most crucial opponent for teams working on challenging projects. The best teams have a way to organise themselves, their work and deliverables efficiently. They not only beat the deadlines, but also add excellence and craft into their work. They pursue every project and perceive it as the ladder to greater heights. When a team is motivated and believes in excellence, they are naturally agile and responsive.

5. Proactive :

When things go wrong, you lose time. The best teams are proactive to deal with issues. They ensure that important aspects are dealt with in the right way. They take input and feedback from the involved stakeholders to keep things on track. During the development process, the IT teams contribute with ideas and escalate critical issues to the top management as well.

6. Empathy with Users & Customers :

What is in it for the user? This is the most important question behind every successful project. The teams that put user or customer at the heart of their development often create remarkable products/services for them. A deep understanding of the user environment, their needs and goals can help teams to deliver top quality work. The best performing IT teams do things that make it easier for the end user even if it requires additional effort on their part.

7. Ruthless Execution Skills :

Results need no explanation. The top professionals and teams are consistent with their execution. They produce quality work without fail. By channelizing the strengths of the team members and thoroughly committing to projects, they deliver results that exceed expectations. The high performing IT teams demand excellence, produce top notch work and are ever keen to improve.

The difference between what teams can potentially achieve and what they actually do is often defined by motivation. Great IT teams are motivated to produce high quality products/services that transform industries. They work diligently and utilize their time to solve the customer problems. These teams keep moving forward, confront tough challenges by acquiring new skills and keep reinventing themselves to amaze everyone around them.

Working at Kreyon Systems is both challenging & rewarding. We boast of a world class talent pool. If you are looking for software jobs in Jabalpur, please get in touch.

Kreyon Systems is a global IT company that leverages strengths of its IT teams to deliver world class software products & solutions. Our international customer base is rewarded with stellar execution and top quality work. Please reach out to us, if you need any assistance with your IT projects.

The post 7 Success Secrets of High Performing IT Teams appeared first on Kreyon Systems | Blog | Software Company | Software Development | Software Design.

Measuring the performance of companies requires proactive insights into ever changing data. These performance metrics are indicators of how the company is doing. However, businesses struggle to get the right data at the right time. More often than not, delay of information results in loss of performance. What companies need is proactive and actionable information at the earliest, so that the corrective measures can be taken to improve things. Business intelligence systems and automation tools are the key to an indepth understanding of the underlying processes of the company. The executives need to know the most important data patterns emerging from their business for measuring performance. The following is an indicative list of the 25 metrics for measuring performance of companies:

1. Total Revenue:

The total revenue generated by the company every month/quarter/year should be measured in clear terms. Companies also track & measure Revenue per day. The difference between your targets and actual revenue can provide key pointers on the improvement areas. The revenue parameters by regions, products and teams etc are important for analysis too.

2. Average Customer Acquisition Cost:

The customer acquisition costs are the sum total of all the marketing and employee expenses for winning a customer. The average customer acquisition cost is the ratio of customer acquisition expenses over total customers acquired in a given time period. A break-up of the costs in terms of percentage can also help your business to figure out the cost effectiveness. Example: The average cost of acquiring a customer in 2016 is 2,500$, it was 2,200$ in 2015.

3. Conversion Funnel:

The conversion funnel may include details for the total number of qualified leads, proposals delivered, negotiations in progress, & open opportunities in a given time period. The percentage of deals won versus lost is helpful for evaluating the performance of the sales teams. The conversion funnel analysis for months, their conversion ratios and overall value are important for targets.

4. Total Number of Customers & their lifetime value:

The total number of customers and their lifetime values is an important indicator for the direction of business. The forecasting of the lifetime value is based on customer’s current deals, retention rates and probabilistic estimates for future purchases. The idea is to find out the most valuable customers for a business based on these parameters. The number of customers gained or lost is an indicator on how the company is doing.

5. Customer Attrition Rate:

The customer attrition rate is the loss of customers for a business. The customer attrition rate is very important for the overall success of a company. The cost of acquiring a new customer is higher than retaining an existing one. The higher customer attrition rates are usually an indicator that the business is not serving its customers well. The management can take proactive measures, send surveys and interact with customers to gauge customer satisfaction levels for improving customer retention.

6. Average Time for Closing a deal:

The shelf life for products/services is as small as it has ever been. It is important for sales teams to be effective and close out deals quickly. How fast your team closes deals? How many days it takes to negotiate contracts with your clients? Which factor can fast track closure of deals? And many such answers can be uncovered with the right tools. Example: the average time for closing a deal in 2016 was 31 days, in 2015 it was 35 days.

7. Outstanding balance payments by Customers:

Top management and executives need to track the outstanding balance payments by customers. Huge outstanding balance payments can cause operational issues for enterprises. An automated list of outstanding balance payments for the current month or quarter can be sent to the executive team can be sent for fast tracking things. The action item for non payment can also be taken by them in case of no response by clients.

8. Procurement costs:

What are the procurement costs on monthly basis? What equipments need to be purchased? The procurement costs for business must be tracked closely. The current and fixed asset costs operational and capital expenses can have a significant impact on the bottom line for a company. You can stay on top of your procurement costs using a good supply chain management system.

9. Staff Retention & turnover:

What are the costs for replacing your staff members? What percentage of your staff is retained every year? The staff retention and turnover statistics are important for managing projects successfully. The staff retention is an important metric for gauging confidence and long term prospects for the business. For e.g. staff retention rate for 2016 was 93%, in 2015 it was 88%.

10. Staff Performance & time:

What is the average rating of your staff? What is the average number of hours they are spending on projects & tasks? The staff performance metrics are the basis on which policy decisions can be based. The decisions for downsizing can be taken based on performance measures. Managers are constantly driving to push for better staff performance and automated performance analysis is good for consistency. HRMS and payroll solutions can provide detailed metrics on performance of employees.

11. Marketing Expenses & ROI:

How much does your company spend for Marketing? What channels are involved for promotions? What is the effective ROI & Conversions from your marketing efforts? The marketing expenses spend analysis and effective ROI from different channels can help a company to fine tune the message to its customers. For every 10,000$ spent on marketing, how many customers does the company acquire?

12. Revenue per Employee:

The revenue per employee is an indicator of the efficiency  with which employees are utilised. It is expressed as the total revenue of the company divided by the active employees. The higher the revenue per employee, the more confidence the company generates for its stakeholders. For e.g. the average revenue per employee is 55,000$ in 2016. It was 53,000$ in 2015.

13. Profit per Employee:

The profit per employee is another metric that defines the efficiency of a company. It is expressed as the total profit of the company after taxes divided by the active employees. The profit per employee is indicative of the promise and potential in the business. A higher profit per employee is a positive sign for the growth of a company. It also means that the company has a strong niche.

14. Working Capital:

The financial health of a company needs to be measured proactively. The working capital is expressed as current Assets – current liabilities. The working capital ratio is the current assets/current liabilities indicate whether the company can cover its short term borrowings. When this ratio is below 1, it indicates negative working capital. Anything over 2 indicates that the company is not investing excess assets.

15. Average cost per employee:

What is the average cost per employee for your organisation? How much does it cost to replace your existing employees? The cost to company for employees is important for planning its operations. The employee costs, benefits and compensation are one of the major expenses for companies.

16. Total Customer Complaints:

The service levels of a company are extremely important for customer retention & cross selling opportunities. The total number of customer complaints is an indicator of the defects and quality of products/services by the company. A very high number of complaints is typically a red alarm for the management.

17. Average response time:

What is the average response time for customer complaints? A customer problem needs to be addressed within the shortest window of time. The management can track customer escalations and measure the first response time for customer complaints. This is an important metric for customer satisfaction levels. Typically businesses want to respond to their customers within minutes today.

18. Average resolution time:

The customer satisfaction levels are directly proportional to the quality of the services they receive. Top executives are always looking at the customer metrics with utmost care. The average resolution time for customer complaints is probably the most important metric in winning them. The average time for resolving customer complaints was 1.31 days in 2016; it was 1.5 days in 2015.

19. Average Customer Rating:

What is the average customer rating from your clients? How happy are your customers? The delighted customers for a business are its greatest assets. The average rating for a business is an important parameter for evaluating the services provided to the customers. Companies are aspiring for excellent ratings these days in an increasingly competitive environment.

20. Average Cost to fix a customer complaint:

The cost to fix customer escalations can be high. Companies need to be able to trace the defects in their products/services at the earliest stage for controlling costs. Tracking bugs at the earliest stage is important. The later the bug is discovered, the more it costs the company to fix it. Not only does it jeopardise the reputation of a business, but businesses also incurs heavy cost to fix customer issues. The average cost for fixing a customer complaint involves the support team, the engineering team & the customer representatives etc. Example: Average cost to fix a customer issue is 721$ in 2016, it was 650$ in 2015.

21. Response Rate for positions:

The growth of a company depends on how well it manages to attract talent individuals. A company typically wants to have a high number of applicants for its vacancies. The response rate is measured as the ratio of number of open vacancies/total number of applicants x 100. Companies need to track the response rate for building a stellar team.

22. Net Promoter Score:

How many customers will recommend your business to their friends & family? Net Promoter score is calculated on a scale of 0-10. The customers are classified as detractors, passives and promoters. The score breakdowns
a) 0-6: Detractors
b) 7-8: Passives
c) 9-10: Promoters

Net promoter score = (Number of promoters-Number of Detractors)/(Total Responses) X 100

Say a response of 100 customers received 30 responses from Detractors, 10 from Passives and 60 from Promoters. NPS=(60-30)/100 x 100. NPS is 30, which is positive for your business. NPS can also be negative, which implies unhappy customers.

23. Total number of customer projects or orders:

What is the number of current projects your company is handling? What is the number of client orders that are pending? How many projects can your company take up at a given point of time for ensuring optimised delivery? All these metrics are required for successful execution of the projects. Ideally the numbers shouldn’t be too high or too low. These numbers need to be monitored and information should be available to the executives’ realtime for seamless operations.

24. Cost for operations & Facilities:

What are the costs for operations and facilities for your business on monthly basis? What are the ongoing maintenance expenses and expenditures required for your business to operate smoothly? All these costs and their projects are important for having the right Working Capital. Very high overhead expenses can be detrimental to the long term health of a business. An analysis of the costs and their parameters should be monitored regularly for operational efficiency.

25. Profit or Loss:

The aim of a business is to maximize the value for all its stakeholders. Be it clients, staff, investors or shareholders. The monthly run rate for a business and calculation of profits or losses is important for staying on track. The profit or loss figures are metrics that the executive team needs to track closely. All parameters resulting in profit or loss should be outlined and suggestive actions be recommended through regular reports & software solutions.

BPA tool is one of the most important requirements for managing a company today. These tools are not only tuned to provide a visual summary of key performance indicators, but also changes graphs and information according to priorities of business. Static reports and data is now passé, executives need to know the most crucial elements of their business as soon as they can. Also, the key information is now sent to executives based on emerging patterns. The executives don’t need to login to the system looking for details. The dynamic correlation of data to business goals, identification and corrective measures for negative trends should be sent to the executives by the system proactively.

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