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Why Finance should not own (all) your KPIs
A point to make is that KPIs are not just financial measures. Financial measures are crucial in many organisations, but they are also `lagging’ – which means they tell you what happened after the event. KPIs should also help you see what is coming, not just what has passed. It’s like the difference between a…
What we are about…
KPIs and measures can drive a business in the right direction, or become instruments of torture. I believe that most organisations can do a lot more with the data and systems they already have. This site is all about helping you improve your measures, KPIs and reporting. Dive in, take what you need and let me…
Performance measurement, biscuits and a cunning sheep dog
I have always thought sheep dogs were intelligent. I didn’t realise, until recently, that they are smarter than me (well, at least one is). A while ago I was walking with a friend. Her sheep dog, a Border Collie called Harvey, was with us. After 10 miles or so Harvey seemed to be flagging. She…
Improved KPI reports by understanding thumbs
There’s a very interesting article in the Guardian on mobile software design for the real world. One of the points they make is, through watching phone users, the authors of Polar have established that 49% of users drive their phone apps with just one thumb. This is interesting to the app designers for all kinds…
Using KPIs to improve your business
I’m often asked how to create KPIs and measures. It’s not a short process, which is why most people end up brainstorming or using existing measures when they are tasked with doing this (check out this article – Six KPI Selection Traps to Avoid to see some of the other pitfalls). The good news is…
KPI Management – Using KPIs to improve your business
KPIs are the first step for improving or controlling a business. Measures are the eyes and ears of anyone who has to manage anything bigger than a one-man business. KPI management is all about using KPIs to give you a clear and honest view of whichever organisation you are looking at. I use two processes…
The “King Midas” award for Measures with Unintended Consequences
King Midas is famous for an apparently good idea – everything he touched turning to gold – with unexpected side effects – starvation. I regularly stumble across less dangerous variations on this theme, with measures that create completely unintended consequences. I’m looking for your favourite examples of bad measures, KPIs or metrics. The winner will…
Using 5S to improve report and dashboard design
5S is a tool that lots of manufacturing businesses use. It’s a funny tool as it can look quite superficial unless you have been involved in a project where it has been applied properly. What people often miss is the mindset that goes along with it. When you start living and breathing 5S some quite…
Strategy Checklist: Is your strategy ready to support meaningful measures and KPIs?
Why is a strategy checklist important? Imagine a friend saying to you “Can you pop out to the hardware store and buy a tool for me?”. Obviously, your first question would be “What kind of tool are you looking for?” Deciding on your measures and KPIs without having a clear strategy is exactly like going…
Tibco Spotfire 4.5 Hands-On Review
What is Spotfire? Spotfire is a BI (business intelligence) tool that enables you to explore and represent “big data” sets. It’s one of a class of tools that focus on making it easy to explore masses of data without being a database ninja. It’s head-to-head with tools like Tableau and Qlikview. I’d previously been put…