28 Jun How KPIs can make you more successful
We’re all no doubt familiar with the use of scoreboards in sport settings.
Whether it is cricket, football, rugby, swimming or any other competitive sport, the score or performance metrics are tracked to show who is winning and who is losing.
Within business, however, it is common for the scorecards to be less clear.
Whilst the historical and now aspects of finance are often tracked quite closely, many other areas of individual, team and business performance are often assessed more through feel than through defined metrics.
This lack of true clarity and accuracy can cause problems for businesses as personal feel is generally less accurate than scientific measurement, and a simple misinterpretation, or a mistaken assessment can lead to significant headaches, stress, and risk for a company.
Within my role as a business coach, I work with clients to help them develop better scoreboards for different areas of their business, their teams, and their individual staff performance. We do this together, as enhancing performance clarity and delivering certainty where doubt previously existed allows for better decision making, and faster progression.
Within my own companies (I have 3) I also track a range of metrics personally and ask for other members of my teams to track and report scores that they have more direct access to as part of that. I do this not because (contrary to what many may thing) I am a numbers freak, but because I prefer not to make mistakes, and I hate wasting effort or missing results!
I am sure you share those values, but do we share the same focus on the numbers?
If you know there is a bit of work needed to sharpen up your business KPIs, here are some pointers to help you get started…
KPIs come in 3 main forms.
Raw KPIs are the pure data – just a number.
Progress KPIs are there to show progression against a defined goal / target.
Change KPIs are there to show trends and identify shifts in performance.
KPIs also useful at different tiers within an organisation.
Examples are:
Personnel performance metrics – for individuals
Team performance metrics – for groups of individuals with shared aims / targets
Departmental KPIs – for functions such as Marketing, Sales, Operations, and Finance
Business overview KPIs – for use by a board, CEO, GM, or other leader
The question to ask yourself is, “Do my current KPI scoreboards allow my staff, managers, directors and myself sufficient insight and clarity to make confident, effective and efficient decisions, and to clearly know our position against business objectives easily?”
My top tip for this month is to come to love the numbers in your business.
Mastering your KPIs will allow you to see the past more clearly and learn better from it. It will allow you to assess the now with ease and thus better steer the future of your business, and it will help you to set targets and direction with greater confidence and clarity.
KPIs are not simply a ‘measure for the sake of it task’. Done well, they provide a solid foundation for growth, and a great source of empowerment and efficiency for businesses.
Tim Rylatt
Managing Director – UK Growth Coach
Should you have any questions or comments about the content provided here, please do give me a call on 07735 414185 and arrange a 1:2:1, or email me at tim@growthcoach.co.uk
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