Good KPIs will Lead You in the Right Direction and Get You to The Right Place

Grandma used to say, “Know where you are going before you start your journey.” That may seem obvious, but in life and business, we don’t always have a clear picture of how to measure the success of our journey. Every business understands the need for BI tools and metrics. But, they don’t necessarily know how to leverage metrics or even which activities and results to measure. To use key performance indicators (KPIs), you must understand the results and tasks that drive performance and how they affect objectives and goals. Counting the number of pencils in stock, does not tell a business how to sell more pencils.

Here are six questions to answer when defining metrics and setting up BI dashboards:

Do you know the identity and roles of those who will use the dashboard software?
Do you understand the specific, detailed objectives of users, and how they will use the dashboard?
Are the metrics meaningful to the users and the organization?
Do users understand how the metrics align with objectives to measure individual or department success?
Is the strategy driven by the results of the metrics and the dashboard?
Do your metrics and data visualizations immediately point to the steps to be taken?

If you answered ‘no’ to any of these questions, don’t start the journey to implement KPIs. Do your homework. Then, establish metrics, and select a data visualization method.

Selecting BI tools and KPIs without understanding what drives your business success is like walking out the door without any idea of where you are going! If you need a guide to the effective use of KPIs and BI Tools, here is the place to start: Key Performance Indicators