Every smart business owner knows the importance of KPIs (Key Performance Indicators). KPIs are metrics used to measure the success of a business, department, or individual against their goals. They show managers what’s working and what’s not. There are thousands of KPIs, and choosing the appropriate ones to measure can be a manager’s biggest challenge. Because of the daunting amount of data connected to businesses, managers may feel discouraged or defeated and decide to forgo data management for the sake of saving time -- a rather large mistake. Today, a data management software solution can simplify the process. Those who take advantage of this software reap great benefits, while those who fail to see the benefit in minding their data may be suffering losses due to organizational inefficiencies.
I’d like to think that instead of Key Performance Indicators, KPIs stands for Key Performance Inspirers because that’s what they do; they inspire and motivate employees. Numbers and data are concrete proof. With the appropriate software, these numbers turn into visually pleasing graphs and charts that are easy to understand.
Numbers from KPIs aren’t the only way to motivate employees though. KPI Management itself can boost productivity. Delegating the management and analysis of different KPIs to each member of your team will increase their responsibility, accountability, productivity, and ultimately morale. After delegating metrics, set up weekly meetings to debrief and give your team members the opportunities to present their findings. Staying up-to-date with KPIs is crucial, and although your team may not have to meet up on a weekly basis, it’s important to choose a consistent frequency to be able to measure your performance over time.
If you’re a field activity manager, you know that the remote nature of field representatives makes motivation and cohesion difficult. These meetings are a great excuse to get the team together and keep everyone on track. This will help foster better communication between you and your field representatives, bettering your company culture. After each meeting, remember to make an action plan. One of the biggest mistakes that managers do is let the data and analytics just sit. Data means nothing unless you act upon it. Look at where you met your goals and where you fell short, and do something about it!
There are also ways that you can take advantage of KPIs if you have not disclosed them to your team members yet. Ask your representatives to guess what the company’s top five KPIs are and you can learn a lot about how well you’ve communicated your company’s mission to your team. Is everyone on the same page about your company’s vision? What do your employees perceive as the most important values or goals to your company? If there are repeats of KPIs that aren’t actually on your list, is there a different goal that would drive more success for the company? This process can highlight the difficulties of choosing KPIs. To make narrowing down the countless number of KPIs out there easier, we’ve made a list of seven attributes that every effective KPI has. This way you can weed out the ones that aren’t as meaningful to your company. Measuring the wrong KPIs can lead to losses for your company as well.
For more information about KPIs download our free eBook below. Included are detailed explanations of the seven attributes listed above, a full list of KPIs that field activity managers can use, and an example to demonstrate how to utilize KPIs.
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