By ICMA Staff

Through long days, strenuous work, and challenges you aren’t sure you’ll overcome, it’s nice to have reassurance that it’s worth the effort. If you’re lucky, in those times, you’ve had someone inspire you with words of encouragement such as

• “There’s a light at the end of the tunnel.”
• “You’ve come too far to turn back.”
• “Don’t give up!”
• And “There is a treasure at the end of the rainbow!”

When it comes to performance measurement, many communities spend time collecting data and then never use it. Or they simply decide they are not willing to put in the staff time required for collecting and analyzing the data. However, if you really take performance measurement seriously, you’ll see that there are real measureable benefits that can far outweigh the work. Improved service delivery, evidence-based decisions, and cost-savings are all treasures you can find at the end of a cycle of data collection, analysis, and application.

Here's a case study showing a real-life example: “Putting Performance Data to Use in Kansas City, Missouri.”