Firstly what are KPIs
They are ways to measure how well either companies, departments, teams or individuals are performing against a business objective. They help bring everyone together and should be communicated and celebrated.
They are important as they record measured progress towards the goal but first you need to know what that goal/objective is.
There are four steps
- Determine the Key Strategic Objectives.
You need to know the end goal before you start, it could be to increase profit, Sales, reduce overheads, something that everyone is working towards.
- Define what success looks like
You need to establish where you are now and what number, objective you want to reach. The company has their objective, but it must be broken down into what a department, team and individual can achieve. Then it needs to be broken down into stages
- Decide how to measure the progress
Is it a number, is it an event or completion of activities?
- Write your KPIs
You know what we are going to say, these need to SMART, specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time bound.
If the KPI’s are not working or unable to measure them, these can be changed or adapted, do not wait until the end of the allocated period or time to review, otherwise you may be wasting time or focus