How to Create “Killer” KPIs

Abstract

I was once invited to a client site to help "create some key performance indicators (KPIs)" for their business. The only representatives from the client were two information technology (IT) managers and a young project manager. No one from the business side of the company was present. Without their input, the IT managers struggled to figure out what chunks of available data were most important, and spent time guessing as to what executives wanted to see. It seemed upper management had ordered "some KPIs" with the expectation that something relevant could simply be ethereally conjured. I came up with five important characteristics that not only ensure you’ll have great key performance indicators, but "killer" indicators. Killer performance indicators are relevant, informative, research-based, actionable, and predictive. These characteristics are not "steps" to creating them. These characteristics are not presented in any special order. The more these characteristics are integrated into your KPI solutions, the more effective they will be.