Effective use and misuse of performance measurement

Performance measurement (PM) is all the rage. It is widely touted as the new way of providing for a focus on the results of public programs. But in the current discussion about PM, there is little recognition of previous PM attempts, which failed to live up to their billing. This article identifies fallacies in the logic of PM and provides examples of ways in which PM is routinely misused. As a result, performance measures are frequently irrelevant-or worse. Used in isolation, they invariably reward and encourage the wrong activities and result in less, rather than more, attention to outcome and quality. This article also identifies strategies for effective use of PMs. In particular, it identifies how PMs can be useful for monitoring purposes, for raising questions, and for identifying areas requiring management attention. PMs, by themselves, are not appropriate for assessing outcomes, for determining future directions pr for resource allo cation. They can, however, be one important component of a comprehensive evaluation strategy.