Anna: Measuring outcomes is how we prove our process works. Without numbers it's just opinion.
Greg: Exactly. Leadership wants to see trends like recovery times getting shorter, not just hear that we "did better".
Anna: We'll focus on MTTR, recurrence rates and whether action items actually get done.
Greg: Tracking these may sound tedious, but it quickly shows if fixes stick or if the same outages come back.
Anna: Why measure? focuses attention on a concrete part of the work. Show whether improvements work, Spot repeat issues early, and Prioritise resources based on data.
Greg: In practice, ask who owns the work, what evidence proves it happened, and what handoff comes next. Use the supporting details as a checklist: Spot repeat issues early; Prioritise resources based on data; Keep leadership informed.
Anna: MTTR stands for Mean Time to Recovery. It's the average duration from detection to full service restoration.
Greg: Recurrence rate tracks how often the same type of incident reappears within a set period.
Anna: Action item completion ratio shows what percentage of agreed fixes were actually carried out.
Greg: We also watch the age of open tasks so nothing lingers forever.
Anna: ServiceNow and Jira both let you export incident data straight into reports.
Greg: For smaller teams, a shared spreadsheet works fine, as long as someone updates it each week.
Anna: Grafana or Kibana are great for graphing MTTR trends alongside deployment metrics.
Greg: Whatever tool you pick, make sure it can export to CSV for audits and compliance.
Anna: Numbers only help if you act on them. Review trends monthly and ask why any spike occurred.
Greg: If the same issue recurs, escalate and revisit your fixes—maybe a root cause was missed.
Anna: Celebrate when MTTR drops or when all action items close on time. Share those wins widely.
Greg: And when tasks slip, discuss roadblocks in stand-ups and adjust priorities rather than ignoring them.
Anna: Consistently measured metrics turn one-off fixes into lasting improvements.
Greg: When leadership sees recovery times shrinking and fewer repeat incidents, support for your process grows.
Anna: Keep tracking completion rates so action items don't fade away once the spotlight moves on.
Greg: The data speaks for itself; use it to drive decisions and keep refining your operations.