How To Set A Baseline Measure

How to Set a Baseline Measure
Purpose of a baseline measure: To measure the resulting change that is caused by or

linked to some intervention that you have implemented.
Baseline data sources

 Existing data - Data you are already keeping on customers, employees or processes.
 Create a database – You may have to start keeping track of data that is not currently being tracked. For
example, counting the number of phone calls, or measuring the time steps in a process take.
 Combination of the above – You may be able to utilize existing data by keeping track of some new
component.
 Survey data – Use surveys for the data you cannot obtain in any other way, such as opinions or customer
satisfaction. Survey data is generally not as accurate as other data, so use it only when nothing more
appropriate is available. Survey data can be used in combination with other data.
Make sure you have sufficient data.

The more complicated the data, the more data you will need.
 Comparing Baseline with Post-baseline data

 The challenge of baseline/post baseline comparison: hold everything constant in your data except the effect
you want to measure. In other words, you do not want any trends, noise or effect of anything in your data
except your baseline plus the effect of the change that you are trying to measure.
 Make sure that what you are measuring in the post baseline data is the same as what was measured in the
baseline data collection process. Specifically:
 Make sure your populations are the same. If your population has changed for some reason beyond your control,
you should try to adjust it. For example, if your population age distribution changes and what you are
measuring depends on age distribution, you can stratify and re-weight it to match your baseline data.
 You need to anticipate this when you collect baseline data so that you can collect enough
detail. In the case of population distribution, you would need to collect detail on age.
 For survey data, ask the same questions before and after. Survey responses are very sensitive to working.
Slight word-smithing can change responses. Slight factors like the location of questions within a survey can
change responses.
 If there is a time trend or other things going on to affect your data between baseline and post baseline collection,
regression analysis may be necessary to isolate the effect of the change you want to measure.
MOST IMPORTANT: Think carefully while you are setting up your baseline. Plan exactly
how you will calculate the effect of the change you are trying to measure to make sure you are
measuring everything you need. It is usually too late to go back and correct things if you have
left something out
Tips to Better Data
 Understand Variation. There is variation in everything. It’s dangerous, if not irresponsible to make changes
based on a single observation. Also, be careful about assigning meaning to rankings. There will always be a
top and bottom and those above and below average.
 Begin with the end. Whether you’re doing a customer survey or using a checksheet to track errors, determine
in advance how you will use the information. This enables you to make good choices in what data to collect
(don’t waste time collecting data you won’t use). Also, knowing what message you want to communicate helps
you select the right tool.
 Choose the right communication mode. Choose the right graph to communicate your desired message. Run
charts, pie charts and bar charts are all good modes of communication, but rarely interchangeable. Just because
your software lets you make certain graphs from data, it doesn’t mean it’s the right graph. Don’t use a graph
when words will do the job better.
 Keep it simple. Avoid redundant and not-data ink on graphs. Don’t get overcome with all the “gee whiz”
software options. If the data isn’t interesting by itself, ask yourself if you’ve got the right data. Statistics guru
Edward Tufte calls this “Chartjunk”.
 Tell the truth. It’s easy to alter perceptions of results by changing scales on a graph. You can make tiny
difference look huge by adjusting the scales. Also, be sure to compare apples to apples. Can you say that state
employees have above average salaries by comparing their salaries to those of workers in fast food restaurants?
 Implement sound collection methods. If you need a random, representative sample, make sure it’s truly
random and representative. Processes that allow self-selection by respondents aren’t random samples and often
aren’t representative of the target population.
 Be consistent. When collecting data, use consistent methods and processes. For example, let’s suppose you
established a baseline of the number of state employees who go out to lunch by counting them on June 10, 11,
& 12 from 11:00 – 1:00 in from of Anthony’s. Then, when you wanted to see if the number of lunch goers had
changed you counted them on July 21, 22, & 23 from 11:30 to 2:00 at McDonald’s, you would have a flawed,
inconsistent process.
Expose the “Ugly”. Data collection never goes perfectly. Say what went wrong or where you have concerns. For
example, suppose in the lunch goers example, you were consistent with your process, but had to change a date of
collection because there was a state employee conference in town. Be sure to communicate these kinds of
situations. The same goes for questions, that despite pre-testing, turn out to be flawed. Lastly, double check the
data. If data you’re observing makes you say, “can this be right?”, check it out. It’s not difficult to have errors in
data collection or recording.
Creating Baseline Measures
Sample baseline measurement
Ideas that save dollars

The majority of the lights in an office building cannot be turned off at nights and weekends. In the financial office
alone there are 286 fixtures that have no switches to turn the bulbs off. The employee suggests switches be
installed so that the lights could be turned off during the evenings and weekends.
Good questions to ask:

 How much does it cost today to have the lights on 24 hours?
 Who might know that information?
 Financial office or building or facilities coordinator
 How could we calculate the potential savings?
 How many fixtures would be turned off?
 How many hours would the fixtures be turned off during the year?
 What is the cost per minute or hour to have one fixture on?
 # of fixtures times the cost per minute/hour times the (# of hours the fixtures would be off per year)
 286 fixtures X $.06/hour X ((13 hours X 5 days) + (24 hours X 2 days)) X 52 weeks
Assignment
Ideas that save dollars
Scenario 1: We currently provide employees and customers with several publications in paper format. Today 1300
copies of The Journal are printed 4 times a year and each copy costs $.08. We also print the Gazette monthly.
Propose using the Intranet/Internet/Email for distribution of publications. We think we could reduce the number of
copies of both publications by 50%. Some publications are already on the intra/internet or could easily be added.
Employees can be sent an email message with a link to the information. Customers could access the publications on
our website. Printed materials can still be produced, but in limited quantities with a more centralized
distribution/posting point (i.e. several copies at reception desks, bulletin boards, etc.) Offices with limited computer
access for employees can still use paper distribution to ensure employees are receiving needed information.
Help this team document at baseline measure for dollar savings.
Scenario 2: To save energy which translates to dollar savings, turn off PC monitors when they are not in use. The
agency has 350 PCs and think savings would add up quickly. Most monitors are turned off at night so we would be
looking at savings during the work day hours only.
Help this team document a baseline measure for dollar savings.
Ideas that save time

Scenario 3: Recommend changing the (P-5) attendance report to an electronic form. This would save time. The
timekeeper at this time manually inputs the employee’s time and calculates the totals. With an electronic form
mistakes would be eliminated with formulas and would improve accuracy.
Help this team document a baseline measure for staff time savings.
Hints:
 How many people are involved today?
 How much time does each person spend on this task?

How To Set A Baseline Measure

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

How To Set A Baseline Measure

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

How To Set A Baseline Measure

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

How to Set a Baseline Measure

Purpose of a baseline measure: To measure the resulting change that is caused by or

Baseline data sources

Make sure you have sufficient data.

 Comparing Baseline with Post-baseline data

Sample baseline measurement

Ideas that save dollars

Good questions to ask:

Help this team document at baseline measure for dollar savings.

Help this team document a baseline measure for dollar savings.

Ideas that save time

You might also like