How to Write Critical Success Factors
You know you are at the end of a journey home when you recognize familiar landmarks. It is the same thing with organizations and critical success factors, or CSFs. CSFs are the essential activities and measures that have to occur in order for a initiative to be successful. They are the practical quantitative statements of your goal. If the goal is "what," CSFs are the "hows." Spelling these factors out clearly can help teams to get coordinated and focused. Knowing how to write CSFs is important in order to make any goal a reality and to recognize when you have achieved it.
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Instructions
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Make sure the goal is understood and achievable. It is hard to write CSFs if the goal they are based on is fuzzy or can't be implemented. Make sure that all are in agreement on the goal so that you get the necessary cooperation in putting the CSFs together.
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Gather all the necessary facts by studying your operation and the competition. What did they do to solve the same issues you are having? How would adopting that method change your business and how would you implement it? Remember, the most effective solution is not always the most creative or radical solution.
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Note the resources you would have to have in place in order to achieve your goal. What do you need to do in order to get them?
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Determine the necessary steps to achieve your goal and in what order they need to happen. This is crucial in coordinating different teams to work together and set timelines.
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Spell out any specific numbers that are related to your goal in your CSFs. If your goal is to become the number one maker of widgets in the United States, your CSF should spell out just how much of an increase in sales or profit would be needed for that to happen. You may then want to have a CSF for each main department involved in the initiative with their progress numbers.
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List the steps that are needed in order for departments to reach those numbers. Maybe you need to hire 500 new widget makers to production in order to hit the production numbers associated with your goal. Maybe you need to expand, so you need operations to find an architect and contractor to oversee the expansion.
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Make sure that CSFs allow for measurement and accountability. Don't just say you need to expand. Say how much you need to expand and in what timeframe you need to have certain steps completed. This way you can tell if you are on track with completing your goal while along the way.
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State your CSFs simply and in plain English so that everyone can clearly understand them. If people aren't sure what they need to do or what is expected of them, you up the risks of poor judgment and error.
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