Past Performance Baseline

Establishing A Starting Point

This one-time assessment of the organization's performance, based on the client's perceptions, provides a starting point and helps identify areas of critical importance that should be watched in the future. Typically this assessment gathers surveys from clients on projects completed during the previous two years, and includes surveys to one or more external raters for each project.

The Baseline program is not a comprehensive ongoing assessment, but a single point-in-time evaluation to give management a feel for improvements that might be possible. Based on the results of the Baseline survey, a more complete Performance Evaluation program may be indicated. Furthermore, the Baseline creates the basis for a cost/benefit approach to creating a long-term organizational program.

Client Monitor

Accurate, Comprehensive Marketing Intelligence

Many organizations want a reliable, consistent method of tracking their client's perceptions about their performance, by using regular surveys to decision-makers within each of their clients' organizations. Typically these surveys are administered to one or more key individuals within each client's organization, at predetermined intervals that correspond to key milestones for the projects with which they are involved.

These surveys are no substitute for other types of customer service. Rather, they serve to supplement these efforts with a quick, non-intrusive, comprehensive survey designed to act as another feedback mechanism, as well as an instrument for measuring customer satisfaction. This is the type of survey most often used in marketing, since it measures how well clients perceive the organization to be performing.

Team Monitor

The Premier Project Management Tool

RatingSource's Team Monitor Program is used by project managers to continuously monitor projects while they are underway. Each team member (based on the stage of the project) is surveyed regularly regarding the performance of other team members, and these survey results are delivered in real time to the project manager. Real-time, frequent feedback allows immediate identification of potential problems very early, improves communication, saves costly revisions and rework, and motivates the entire team to continuous improvement.

Given the choice, any professional would prefer to have feedback along the way, positive or negative, rather than wait until the project is over to find out if others were dissatisfied with their work. Proactive (rather than reactive) quality control is a "best practice" that should be used by any successful organization. RatingSource's Performance Evaluation surveys are targeted and specific, and isolate clearly defined correctable problems.

Vendor Performance Evaluation

Reference Checking

Many construction-related organizations are required to frequently evaluate potential new vendors. The Vendor Performance Evaluation program allows an organization to survey previous clients of vendors prior to contracting with them for design or construction services. Checking references can be quite difficult to accomplish without professional guidance. Using RatingSource surveys sets a reliable, consistent standard.

Using the RatingSource system consistently will allow any organization to regularly use the best-qualified vendors on each project. In fact, each potential vendor has diverse competencies that may make them particularly well-suited for one project, and very poorly matched on a different project. RatingSource's Relevance Factor adjustments allow the user to ascertain and evaluate these key differences.

Organizational Self-Assessment

Using Survey Data for Self-Improvement

In addition to the real-time application of survey results for marketing intelligence (Client Monitor) or as a project management tool (Team Monitor), these results are invaluable as components of an ongoing organizational performance evaluation and self-assessment program. Scores in each of the four main performance categories can be grouped by branch or division, and individual project managers, superintendents, and team leaders can be regularly evaluated based on how well their projects performed. Organization-wide goals can be set, and performance against these goals accurately measured at regular intervals.

Self-assessment allows the ongoing measurement of current performance, consistent measurement of changes in performance over time, and an objective third-party evaluation of the performance of various units within the organization. Furthermore, promotional and business development efforts can be directed toward areas of known, proven competence, and not wasted by pursing inappropriate objectives. By consistent and objective self-assessment, the organization can align its own self-perception with the perceptions of its clients, peers, vendors and partners.