SPARA Performance Operating Model

Traditional performance management often revolves around KPIs, SLAs, or project status reports. These tools have their place — but they are incomplete. They tell you what is happening, but rarely explain why it matters, what it means, or what should be done next.

In complex, fast-moving environments, this is no longer enough.

Organisations need a framework that enables them to:

• Frame the right performance questions — not just chase existing targets

• Select and validate measures that reflect outcomes, not just activity

• Extract coherent insight from fragmented data sources

• Communicate findings as action-oriented narratives, not passive reports

• Trigger meaningful decisions, accountability, and course corrections

This is what the SPARA Performance Management Framework (PMF) provides.

It transforms performance from a reporting activity into an operating capability — one that connects strategy, measurement, behaviour, and improvement in a continuous, repeatable loop.

The SPARA Performance Management Framework (PMF) is built on three structural components that work together to drive alignment, insight, and measurable improvement.

1. The Performance Intelligence Cycle (PIC)

A five-phase, repeatable process that forms the engine of the PMF. The PIC enables organisations to move performance from observation to insight, from insight to action, and from action to maturity — in a continuous feedback loop.

The five phases provide structure for framing performance questions, selecting metrics, capturing data, reporting meaningfully, and driving change.

2. The SPARA Levers

SPARA is driven by five core Levers — strategic instruments that influence performance at every level:

• Governance & Alignment

• Design & Flow

• People & Empowerment

• Delivery & Assurance

• Experience & Outcomes

These Levers are activated within the PIC process to harmonise decisions, remove friction, and ensure performance improvements are embedded across teams, services, and portfolios.

3. The Layered Foundation

SPARA operates across five contextual layers that help interpret and influence performance maturity:

• Meta – The underlying structure of roles, rules, and relationships

• Data – The quality, flow, and relevance of performance inputs

• Process – How work is sequenced, governed, and managed

• Capability – The embedded strength and repeatability of performance practices

• Value – The alignment to stakeholder outcomes and strategic intent

Together, these layers form the foundation for measuring what matters — not just what’s easy to count.

When used together, the PIC, Levers, and Layers ensure that performance is not just measured, but managed, aligned, and evolved in a structured, scalable way.

At the heart of SPARA’s Performance Management Framework (PMF) is the Performance Intelligence Cycle (PIC) — the practical method that makes performance measurable, meaningful, and manageable.

The PIC is:

• Lightweight enough to support a single team or service

• Scalable enough to apply across an enterprise

• Flexible enough to work in federated, hybrid, or fragmented environments

It provides the rhythm through which performance flows — moving from signal to insight, and from insight to action.

The five phases of the PIC create a repeatable system:

1. Frame the Right Questions

2. Define Meaningful Metrics

3. Capture Trusted Data

4. Deliver Tailored Insight

5. Drive Decisions and Change

Without the PIC, performance remains passive — something reviewed in hindsight.
With the PIC, performance becomes active — a living cycle of interpretation, alignment, and improvement.

It is the engine of the PMF — and the heartbeat of performance orchestration.

The SPARA Performance Management Framework (PMF) is designed to scale — not by changing its structure, but by adapting its delivery.

Whether you’re working in a small team or a global enterprise, the Performance Intelligence Cycle (PIC) flexes to meet your reality:

• In lean environments: a single person may run the full cycle end to end

• In SMEs: cross-functional teams can collaborate to generate insight and drive action

• In large enterprises: each PIC phase can align to existing governance structures, performance functions, or service portfolios

This flexibility is deliberate. The PMF does not impose rigid role definitions. Instead, it preserves structural integrity while adapting to scale. You gain the benefits of a consistent method, without forcing unnatural change.

SPARA meets you where you are — and grows with you.

While the Performance Management Framework (PMF) governs the rhythm and flow of performance, the SPARA Levers are the instruments through which it is shaped and improved.

Each phase of the Performance Intelligence Cycle (PIC) activates different Levers depending on the context and focus of the work:

• Governance & Alignment ensures ownership, intent, and accountability are clear across all phases

• Design & Flow influences how metrics are selected, interpreted, and embedded into processes

• People & Empowerment enables teams to understand insight and take meaningful, localised action

• Delivery & Assurance reinforces reporting integrity, decision discipline, and continuous validation

• Experience & Outcomes keeps stakeholder value at the centre of every performance dialogue

These Levers do not operate in isolation. They are dynamically tuned throughout the cycle to harmonise understanding, decision-making, and delivery.

Beneath these tools lie the SPARA Layers — the structural terrain where performance lives. Each action within the PIC touches one or more layers:

• Meta – reveals the hidden architecture and systemic logic of performance

• Data – governs how insight is collected, validated, and communicated

• Process – defines the flows, responsibilities, and rhythm of action

• Capability – reflects the embedded skills, behaviours, and structures

• Value – represents the outcomes achieved and the impact delivered

Together, the Levers and Layers create a responsive system — not just for managing performance, but for actively shaping it.

Ultimately, the SPARA Performance Management Framework (PMF) transforms performance from passive observation into active orchestration. It turns static measurement into dynamic management — connecting data, decisions, and delivery in a single coherent model.

It gives organisations a living performance architecture that:

• Aligns teams and leadership behind what truly matters

• Generates actionable insight, not just data

• Builds a sustainable discipline of continuous improvement

This is not another reporting cycle.
This is not just a method.

This is your organisation’s performance operating system.