I’d like to see many more documentation groups become involved in our benchmark studies than do. A larger group of partners provides more opportunity to identify best practices and share insights. I keep wondering why so many of you hesitate to join even though you’d like the information. I usually get a few people who want to know if they can just buy the final report rather than participate.

Here are my thoughts on the issue. I hope that you will let me know what you think.

Many managers are not used to asking for money to support information gathering. Their budgets are based strictly on headcount with no extra funds available for research. Managers want to know more about what others are doing but have not yet come to the realization that no one is collecting information for free.

Try establishing a budget allocation for benchmark studies with your competition or against best-in-class. Discuss with your manager your need to know what the rest of the field is doing. Recognize the importance of receiving analyzed and validated data.

Managers think that they can receive the same information as they would from a formal study by informally asking listserv participants instead. Every time we announce a CIDM study, there is a flurry of activity on other management listservs on the same subject. People ask for voluntary contributions—"tell us what you are doing"—and use this as a substitute for well-organized data collection.

Recognize that ad-hoc, random information is not useful. Ordinarily, you know nothing about the individuals who provide the anecdotes. You don’t know if they are successful in implementing the practice they report. You don’t know if they are competent or not. You have no way to judge the significance of the information provided. Systematic benchmark studies provide trustworthy information that is filtered and verified by industry experts.

Some managers believe that receiving the report is the equivalent of participating in the benchmark study. They don’t want to contribute; they just want to learn what everyone else is doing. By the way, we don’t sell the benchmark results to companies that have not participated.

Consider how much you learn about your own organization by participating. As a full partner (Tier 1), you receive a site visit and a custom report with recommendations. You also attend the partners’ meeting and exchange information with others. You form a community of interested managers who you can continue to communicate with. You also receive an outside perspective on your activities.

We established a Tier 2 level of participation because some organizations have difficulty getting the full funding. However, I think Tier 2 participants miss out on a great deal, even though they also receive the final study report. (They don’t receive the recommendations.)

Consider that the field visits that are an integral part of Tier 1 provide a significantly different level of information. On a Tier 1 visit, we talk to a number of people in the group, not just the management. These discussions give us insight into what is really happening and really working for the team members. We also learn how a company "lives with a Best Practice." Seeing a Best Practice in action is so much more valuable than just hearing about it on a questionnaire or in a telephone discussion.

Finally, some managers seem reticent to ask for funding to participate. They seem to feel that they can’t make a good business case for benchmarking.

In a recent article in the Harvard Business Review, the benchmark participants had much to say about the benefits. Benchmarking allows them to share insights and best practices among members of their own community. They learn "what programs have worked or have failed elsewhere." Benchmarking allows the group to freely communicate about Best Practices, providing a "rich base of knowledge that is easy to access."

So please plan your strategy and approach your management about benchmark funding. I recommend that each group participate in at least one if not two benchmark studies per year. The value you receive for a fairly modest cost is significant. In fact, one Best Practices benchmark might increase your group’s productivity by 5 or 10%, make 10% of your customers more satisfied, or improve the quality of your workforce.