Chapter 2
Types, Targets and KPI Mistakes
In This Chapter
Understanding the different types of KPIs
Setting the right targets
Identifying the most common errors
Successfully implementing KPIs involves more than meets the eye. Often the indicators themselves can be quite straightforward, so it’s easy to under-estimate their relevance. This chapter is all about context, and making sure that you fully appreciate the various types of KPIs, and what they can and can’t measure, as well as looking at how many KPIs you should have, how to set suitable KPI targets and the top three KPI mistakes to watch out for.
Understanding that KPIs can be Strategic or Operational
KPIs can be used to measure strategic objectives, that is, monitoring where you are now in relation to where you want to be in the future or to measure operational objectives, that is tools for monitoring operational performance on a daily basis. But the two outcomes are not the same – they require different types of KPIs.
Operational KPIs seek to get closer and closer to ‘real time’ measurement, so you can assess what’s actually happening in the business on an hourly, daily, weekly and monthly basis. These insights help you ...
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