Performance improvement experiences

Rule 8: triangle for KPIs

Now we have a first definition of our KPI tree for each customer process that ties into the strategic objectives, we have to apply a few rules to be certain teams and employees will get the right focus. First of all it is very important that you do not define too many KPIs. For a team (and an employee) around 4 – 7 is the limit. For a process owner it can be around 10 – 15 and the management team it should be around 15 – 20 KPIs. Second, you need to be sure that KPIs measure different aspects. Each employee, team and process is measured from three angles. KPIs that measure:
- productivity
- quality
- timeliness
If one angle is missing, your team will get an unbalanced focus. E.g. when you focus only on productivity and timeliness KPIs the team will neglect quality. To score best on all three angles of this triangle is a challenge. A challenge the team has to accomplish.

The third aspect you have to take into account is: think in dimensions. This is our next rule.