7 ways to make measurement fun

I recently wrote about measurement malaise that keeps some nonprofits from putting a measurement strategy for their integrated communications campaigns into practice.

In the comments, I asked how we can make measurement fun. In response, Jono Smith said that was like asking how to make going to the dentist fun.

Whenever I talk about measurement at workshops, I immediately eyes glaze over unless they are member of the Spreadsheet Appreciation Society. HubSpot used this phrase in a job description:

“At HubSpot, we dream in graphs and our native tongue is Spreadsheet Speak. Our data might be the most metrically driven data you’ve seen. That’s right, we are metrics freaks. We measure EVERYTHING, all the time. If you are not part of the Spreadsheet Appreciation Society, you will not have a good time working at HubSpot. The right candidate will understand perfectly what we mean and will smile upon reading this bullet point.

Not everyone is born with this gene. Most people view measurement as a punishment, not something fun or valued.