• What is a KPI?
• How to define a KPI
• How to improve a KPI
• KPI examples
• KPI vs. KLI vs. KPM
• Measure vs. metric
• Credits

A key performance indicator (KPI) is a type of performance measurement.

• A KPI evaluates the success of an organization or activity.
• Choosing the right KPIs needs good understanding of what is important to the or

Success examples:

• Repeated periodic achievement of an operational goal, such as 100% customer satistfaction, or zero defects, etc.
• Making progress toward strategic goals.

Wikipedia pages:

• Performance indicator
• Performance measurement

Our related guides that use KPIs:

• Strategic balanced scorecard
• System quality attributes

To define a KPI, you can cover these areas:

• Title: use an exact name to avoid ambiguity
• Objective: the relation of the indicator with the organizational objectives must be clear
• Scope: state the areas of business and/or parts of the organization that are included and/or excluded.
• Target: Benchmarks must be determined in order to monitor progress
• Formula: the exact calculation of the indicator
• Units: what is/are the unit(s) of measurement in use
• Frequency: when is the indicator recorded and reported
• Data source: the exact data sources involved in calculating a indicator value
• Owner: the accountable person for the indicator
• Comments: any outstanding issues regarding the indicator

To improve a KPI, you can ask these questions:

• Does it clearly define what constitutes success?
• Does it clearly relate to a strategic objective and key result (OKR)?
• Does it provide the information required to set SMART goals?
• Does it accurately portray progress and probability of achieving both long-term strategic objectives and near-term milestones?
• Does it identify the root causes of barriers?
• Does it focus the organization on the priority improvement needs?
• Does it drive the behavior and actions required to achieve the objectives?
• Does it align work with value?

KPI examples in various areas of interest:

• Finance
• Business process
• Ecommerce
• Efficiency
• Compliance
• Service level agreements (SLAs)
• Service quality
• Programmers
• DevOps

If you're interested in KPIs for other areas, then please let us know.

• A Key Performance Indicator (KPI) is the top-level concept in this guide.

• A Key Leading Indicator (KLI) is a KPI that tends to show up earliest.

• A Key Performance Measure (KPM) is how you measure a KPI.

There is overlap between a measure and a metric.

• A measures are concrete, usually measure one thing, and are quantitative in nature (e.g. I have five apples).

• A metric describe a quality and require a measurement baseline (I have five more apples than I did yesterday).

Examples:

• A measure can be useful for demonstrating workloads and activity

• A metric can be useful for evaluating compliance, processes effectiveness, and measuring success against established objectives.

• PNMsoft KPI Examples

• Metrics and Performance Measurement System for the Lean Enterprise

• Speed, Accuracy, Quality, and Joy: Four areas every product manager should focus on to increase their team intelligence

• Quora: What are good KPIs for programmers