KPIs 101

People often asked me: Bernard, does measuring performance really help us improve? Can KPIs and metrics make a tangible difference in our businesses? And my answer is always a big and resounding YES!

I snapped this picture at a cross walk in Manhattan near Central Park over the weekend. What does it say? Stop or walk? You could walk and not, technically, be jaywalking.  You stand a good chance of getting smacked by a car though if you do. You’d be technically right. And maybe even dead right.

I’m going to share with you my secret formula for the right number of KPIs or performance measures that you truly need, so you can stop drowning in overwhelm…

Without a thorough analysis and understanding of goals, objectives, and KPIs, any plan that is developed will simply be a formalized road map for throwing darts at a wall. Goals and objectives tell us the destination. KPIs give us continuous feedback as to whether or not we’re on course for our journey, or if deviations from plan are occurring.

Chances are that you have KPI data hidden in an Oracle, SQL Server or MySQL database, or you rely heavily on SAP, Oracle or Microsoft applications. 

Target-setting is rife with worries like being achievable versus stretch, motivating people to pursue them, figuring out how to measure them, the consequences of missing them, how hard it will be to reach them. I’d like to share some ideas with you, about how to lessen the burden when you come face to face with worries like these.