OKRs Align the Management Team, the Board, and PE Sponsor
Trace3 is a top-tier provider of IT and consulting services with 3,500 customers in 48 states. For the past 20 years, they have delivered strategy and technology solutions to many of the world’s leading companies.
Newly Defined OKRs Across 7 Value-Creation Initiatives Need Tracking, Visualization, and Insight
Post-acquisition, PE sponsor American Securities worked with Trace3 to define 53 OKRs across 7 value creation initiatives. After manually tracking and updating metrics, Trace3 wanted to automate reporting to better align the executive team, board, and sponsor to the VCP. Trace3 engaged Blue Margin (BMI) to build an OKR dashboard that streamlined manual entries and visualized OKR progress MTD/QTD/YTD.
In a follow-on project, Trace3 sought to address inconsistent definitions and tracking of key metrics; each region independently managed their disparate metrics via spreadsheet. BMI collaborated with the Trace3 team to develop a Regional Reporting Package (RRP) to establish consistent reporting and key performance metrics across 12 regions.
Dashboards Track Essential Value-Creating Initiatives
An OKR dashboard allowed Trace3 to track essential value-creation initiatives at the highest level with drill-through reporting to analyze progress on tactics and establish a culture of accountability to the growth plan.
Through Power BI, dashboards automated tracking for 5 OKRs and provided the flexibility of manual entry for metrics not yet populated in the company’s transactional systems.
For the RRP, BMI and Trace3’s c-suite defined key sales metrics and reports for the regional managers. The project team delivered a master scorecard and 5 detail pages to better drive and track progress against objectives.
You can’t measure that which lacks a consistent framework. You need process, definition, data source & visualization.”
Tania DiCostanzo, VP of IT, Strategic Initiatives and Data Analytics
Power BI Improves Efficiency and Insight
The OKR dashboard is used monthly by the Trace3 team (quarterly by their board) to manage risks and ensure progress against goals. Centralized reporting has provided alignment, consistency, and transparency for all involved.
The RRP has been instrumental in improving efficiency and insights into sales performance across 12 regions. Before, teams relied on shared spreadsheets which required manual updates and were prone to errors.
Additionally, the OKR and RRP projects prioritized and consolidated what had been a backlog of over 200 internal report requests.
According to a Trace3 General Manager, the RRP “provides a single source of truth and real-time monitoring. With a high deal volume, it’s essential to see what’s working and what needs to be addressed. The faster we can pivot, the faster we can maintain and accelerate a positive sales trajectory.”