7 The Art of Metrics: Tracking Performance for Organizational Success
This chapter covers
- Understanding the value of metrics for the success of an organization
- Identifying measures of success to leverage as metrics
- Designing SMART metrics for effective tracking and decision-making
- Identifying and mitigating common pitfalls and errors when creating metrics
- Powerfully communicating progress and insights to stakeholders
When watching or reading the news, you’ll regularly see charts tracking information over time. You’re likely familiar with many of them—COVID-19 prevalence, the Air Quality Index (AQI), unemployment rate—and you likely understand what it means when the numbers increase or decrease. These metrics enable you to understand the world and how it changes.
Metrics are standardized quantitative measures that track processes, outcomes, or activities over time. These invaluable tools allow us to understand immediate and long-term changes that influence nearly every facet of our lives.