Effective Use of Metrics

Metrics are useful to help gauge your organization’s or team’s performance and find areas for improvement. They can help you identify inefficiencies and opportunities for growth.

But what should you measure?

Design your metrics with intention. It should be quick and easy for anyone to see if something is succeeding or failing.

Ask others what kind of metrics to track – within your team, and with other teams that you interact with. Ask upward what kind of metrics upper leadership wants to see.

You should be able to learn something from your metrics, and they should be valuable for managing your team. If they aren’t adding any value or insights, remove them from your dashboard to avoid clutter. Choose 3-5 key metrics per department or team to monitor weekly, monthly, or quarterly. They should feed into your annual goals and reflect progress toward your goals.

Don’t run your team according to the metrics, track the metrics that support your story. Don’t allow the metrics to mindlessly control your decisions; they are not a substitute for the real world. The metrics you track and your key performance indicators can and should change occasionally to match organizational growth.

Be honest. Use metrics that will also show if you are failing. Don’t pick and choose to measure only factors of your organization or team that will make you look good. Choose ones that most accurately reflect the reality of your organization’s performance.

If the metrics look bad, identify the problems and create plans for improvement.

Want to know which tools will help track metrics?