Desktop computer on fire as a metaphor for major crises disrupting KPI reporting

How to Fix 7 Common Problems in KPI Metric Reports

KPI metric reports are often more trouble than they’re worth. That’s right, I said it. For many teams, key performance indicator reports cause more headaches than results. But it’s not because performance metrics and KPIs don’t work—it’s because the way we report them doesn't! In this article, we’ll tackle seven common problems that hold back KPI reports and show you how to fix them quickly. Let’s get started!

Ivy covered book as a metaphor for late delivery of KPI metric reports

1. Late delivery of KPI metric reports

Late metric reports are one of the most common issues I come across in organisational reporting. They leave decision-makers without the information they need and chip away at trust in your reporting process.

When your report delivery is running behind, here are a few questions to ask:

  • Have the reasons for the delay been investigated and reported to your internal customer as quickly as possible?
  • Can you take corrective action to prevent the delay from happening again?
  • Are repeated delays highlighting a deeper process issue that needs attention?
  • Is there an appropriate forum to review report production performance, and is the issue being discussed there?

If the delays keep happening, you might want to explore cycle time reduction techniques, like SMED, to speed things up.

Very embarrassed manager

2. Embarrassing KPI performance

Are you asking a fox to guard the henhouse? Expecting someone to report on KPIs and metrics that reflect badly on them is a tough ask. Not everyone is willing to put themselves in that position. It might be worth shifting the responsibility for that part of the report to someone less personally involved who can focus more objectively on the data and its impact on the specific business goals.

Omission of guilt

The most common type of "embarrassment censorship" I’ve seen is omission. A chart or table just disappears. In a fast-paced reporting environment, this can be the hardest form of censorship to catch. That’s why it’s so important to have a clear, signed-off report structure. You also need governance in place that requires formal sign-off before any changes can be made to the report.

Group of managers laughing hysterically as a metaphor for discredited data in a KPI report

3. Discredited KPI report content

This is a case where prevention is definitely better than cure. But if you find yourself with a major issue in your data or reporting quality, here’s how to recover:

  • Don’t try to blag or bluff your way through an explanation.
  • Investigate the problem thoroughly to understand its root cause.
  • Be as honest as possible when you report back.
  • Make sure your explanation is clear, includes the steps needed to fix the issue, and has a solid plan in place.

Nothing is worse than discredited content, except content that gets discredited twice. If you’re lucky enough to get a second chance, do it right. Give yourself enough time, resources, and support to properly fix the problem. And make sure you test the solution thoroughly before presenting it to your internal customer.

Business people rolling a huge boulder up hill as a metaphor for too much effort required to produce KPI metric reports

4. Excessive KPI report production effort

When producing a KPI report is a tedious, time-consuming task, it’s likely to fizzle out once the immediate need is gone. To avoid this, you should plan ahead and look at automating as much of the process as possible.

Reduce production effort:

  • Have you mapped out the process from start to finish?
  • Are there any redundant steps that can be cut out?
  • Can any steps be combined to save time?
  • Is there excessive manual work, like copying and pasting in Excel, that could be automated?
  • Are you collecting and analysing any unnecessary information that could be scrapped?
  • What other options do you have to simplify the process?

Also, check if the right people are doing the right tasks. Are middle managers tied up with admin work that could be delegated? Make sure the resource matches the task.

Desktop computer on fire as a metaphor for major crises disrupting KPI reporting

5. Major unexpected operational crises stopping reporting

Big events like product recalls, mergers, or natural disasters can throw a wrench in all the "discretionary" activities in an organisation, including KPI reporting. I’ve seen it firsthand. One of my clients stopped holding steering meetings for a major brand during a messy merger. That brand represented 25% of their accounts, and as soon as those meetings stopped, the brand’s performance plummeted. Four years later, the meetings still hadn’t resumed!

If you have to pause KPI reporting due to exceptional events, make sure:

  • The reason for the pause is clearly communicated.
  • There’s a plan to bring the report or measure back at a later date.
  • The future date to revive the report is agreed upon.
  • There’s a forum in place to hold stakeholders accountable if the commitment is breached.
Old man with thick glasses reading a book by candle light

6. Poor KPI report or dashboard readability

Clear and well-presented analytics are essential for making informed decisions with your KPI metric reports. Your reports and dashboards need to be easy to read. If you wouldn’t want to read it, neither will anyone else. Here are a few things to keep in mind:

  • Don’t use a font size smaller than 8 points. Commentary and body text should be at least 10 points. I’ve had senior clients who were partially-sighted, so adapt as needed.
  • Avoid using red to green differentiation, as it can be hard for those with red-green colour blindness to interpret (e.g. traffic light indicators).
  • Don’t use strongly-coloured text on strongly-coloured backgrounds.
  • Make sure data sets don’t overlap on charts.
  • Don’t use double Y-axis charts.
  • Avoid mixing chart types like bar and line in the same graph.

Sticking to best practices in design can make your dashboards more accessible and user-friendly. For a more detailed guide on improving readability, check out Creating User-Friendly KPI Dashboards (which contains 3 free dashboard templates to speed up your journey).

Complex mathematical image as a metaphor for KPI reports with too much jargon or complexity

7. Long, complex or jargon-littered KPI reports

There’s no one-size-fits-all rule here, but these questions can help you figure out if your data is appropriate:

  • How long would it take someone to properly read your whole document?
  • How much of the data is there "just in case"?
  • What’s your justification for including that just-in-case data?
  • Are jargon terms and acronyms clearly explained in the document?
  • Could an intelligent but non-specialist reader understand the report without extra help?

Including too much "just-in-case" data can muddy the waters in both reporting and analytics, making it harder for decision-makers to act. If there is a lot of "just-in-case" data, it might mean the report is supporting a poorly focused meeting. It’s worth checking if the meeting has clear Terms of Reference. You can find more on this here: Free Terms of Reference Template.

Watch how people use reports

A useful exercise is to observe how your target audience actually use the reports during meetings (or whatever the intended event is). Get access to the meeting, position yourself where you can observe, and watch quietly. Don’t tell people what you’re looking for. If the reports or dashboards aren’t relevant to the real objectives, it’s time to revisit the meeting’s Terms of Reference.

Questions to ask yourself:

  • How often do people look at the documents?
  • Have they read them in advance?
  • Which sections do they focus on?
  • Which bits do they refer to during the discussion?
  • Are any sections marked up or annotated?
  • Are there certain parts that provoke the most debate?
  • Which parts seem to get ignored completely?
  • Are there comments about the quality of the data or presentation that you should take on board?
  • Is there too much information? (If yes, consider using Index KPIs.)

Measure performance the right way

To measure performance effectively, your reports and dashboards should be the end product of a structured system. If you’re unsure whether your current metrics align with your business objectives, check out our Ultimate KPI Guide. It walks you through my 7-step process for picking the right KPIs, making sure your business processes are aligned for success and that your visualisation is spot on.

One last thought...

All these common KPI report implementation problems can be fixed with the right approach and a bit of careful attention. But it’s crucial to tackle these issues quickly.

If you don’t, they can turn into bigger, more complex problems that stop you from achieving your business objectives. The longer these issues hang around, the greater the chance your KPIs will lose credibility. This can undermine your entire performance management system.

By acting fast and putting the right solutions in place, you can make sure your KPIs stay measurable, effective and credible. This way, your organisation can continue to gain valuable insights and make data-driven decisions that drive business performance.