Develop clear, well-defined metrics to assess your effectiveness in achieving objectives, and monitor them frequently to identify opportunities for improvement early.

A metric is a quantifiable measure used to track and assess progress, evaluate outcomes and determine success.

Metrics help you evaluate the effectiveness of your work and decisions. They act as early signals for when things are working or when something needs attention. Frequent measurement provides timely insights that support better decisions.

All significant decisions and activities (policies — including strategy, processes, projects, products, and services) benefit from being measured against clear metrics. Doing so helps you to know if you are on track and when to adjust course.

Define simple, specific metrics that directly assess whether you are adequately addressing your purpose and identify potential problems or areas for improvement. For each metric, clarify:

  • What exactly will be measured, and how the results will be calculated
  • Why the metric matters
  • How often should it be captured
  • Who is responsible for collecting, monitoring, and acting on the metric
  • Any targets or thresholds for success or failure (often derived from acceptance criteria)

To enable an effective evaluation of outcomes, the specifics of the metrics need to be agreed on before you start measuring, to ensure all relevant data is captured, and to avoid disagreement when reviewing the metrics.

Be cautious not to chase metrics for their own sake. Implementing top-down, performance-driven metrics may lead to gaming the system or focusing on improving the metric without achieving the underlying purpose. When reviewing policies, processes, or projects, be open to evolving the metrics based on new insights and experiences. As you learn more about the system and its dynamics, updating or refining your metrics ensures they remain meaningful, relevant, and effective in measuring true progress toward your objectives.

Consider creating a centralized dashboard that consolidates all currently relevant metrics for a specific project, team, or role. This helps focus attention on what matters most and makes it easier to identify trends, spot issues early, and align efforts across the team.

Defining and Using Metrics

Metrics typically fall into the following categories:

  • Driver-related metrics — Used to assess whether a situation has changed or if a particular driver remains relevant.
  • Requirement-related metrics — Help measure actual outcomes against intended outcomes, or assess whether specific conditions are present or have been fulfilled.
  • Efficiency metrics — Evaluate how efficiently an intervention is being implemented.
  • Signals — Notification of the presence of conditions that may warrant an intervention.

Tips for defining metrics

  • Choose simple and specific metrics, and document them clearly to avoid confusion or unnecessary debate during policy reviews.
  • For high-frequency metrics, efficiency is critical. Metrics captured daily or more often should either be captured and calculated automatically or, if done manually, the process must be straightforward and quick. Complex or time-consuming metrics are unlikely to be maintained reliably at this frequency.
  • For each metric, consider both the measured values and their interpretation — how the numbers relate to the underlying purpose or to broader constraints such as targets or acceptable tolerance ranges.
  • Define actionable metrics by setting clear thresholds and specifying the appropriate response when those thresholds are crossed.
  • Don’t rely on raw metrics without accounting for context. Absolute numbers can be misleading when underlying variables change. For example, if your customer base doubles from 20,000 to 40,000 and complaints rise from 20 to 30 per day, the complaint rate actually drops. More complaints don’t mean more unhappy customers — it means you need to check the ratio, not just the count.
  • System knowledge is essential: the person defining the metrics must have a solid understanding of the system being evaluated in order to derive meaningful insights and avoid misleading conclusions. Without this context, metrics risk becoming disconnected from actual performance or relevance.
  • Establish a clear monitoring schedule for key metrics and stick to it. Define how frequently each metric should be reviewed and assign responsibility for tracking and assessment. The appropriate frequency will vary: some metrics may require daily or weekly checks, while others may be reviewed monthly or quarterly. The goal is to monitor often enough to detect trends, track effects, and catch deviations from intended outcomes early.
  • Use metrics as tools for learning rather than judgment: When individuals apply metrics to understand and improve their work, rather than to label outcomes as “good” or “bad,” metrics support reflection and insight. In contrast, top-down, judgment-driven metrics often discourage experimentation and can obscure underlying issues, limiting the ability to make meaningful progress instead of promoting it.

This structured format ensures clarity, accountability, and alignment between measurement and organizational goals:

  • Title: A clear, concise name for the metric.
  • Description: A brief explanation of what the metric measures and how it is calculated.
  • Rate: The frequency at which the metric is measured or reported (e.g., daily, weekly, monthly).
  • Responsibilities: Who is responsible for collecting, monitoring, and acting on the metric?
  • Baseline: (if necessary) the value to compare relative metrics against, often a measurement taken before the intervention begins
  • Target: The values or range that is considered a success (typically derived from acceptance criteria)
  • Triggers: The specific values or range that triggers attention or action.

Examples

Policy: Hire a specialist to handle some of the admin work.

Intended outcome: People working on the product will have to spend less time on admin work, so that they are able to spend more time focused on the customer.

Metrics:

Time Spent on Admin Work

  • Description: Average time spent on administrative tasks by all team members working on the product (as recorded in the booking system)
  • Rate: Weekly
  • Responsibilities: Team leads collect and review data and monitor trends for their teams
  • Baseline: Time Spent on Admin Work for Week 10 of 2025
  • Target: Reduce average time spent on admin tasks by at least 50% over the next 4 weeks
  • Triggers: Value exceeds 65% of baseline (after 4 weeks): team leads call a team meeting to assess the situation

Time Spent on Product and Customer Requests

  • Description: Average time team members spend handling product development and customer requests (as recorded in the booking system)
  • Rate: Weekly
  • Responsibilities: Team leads collect and review data and monitor trends for their teams
  • Baseline: Time Spent on Product and Customer Requests for week 10 of 2025
  • Target: Increase average time spent on product development and customer requests by 10% over the next 4 weeks.
  • Triggers: 5% above baseline (after 4 weeks): team leads call a team meeting to assess the situation

Response Time for Customer Requests

  • Description: Average time taken to respond to customer inquiries or requests from initial contact to first reply.
  • Rate: Weekly
  • Responsibilities: Team leads track data
  • Baseline: Response Time for Customer Requests for week 10 of 2025
  • Target: Decrease average response time for customer requests by 30% over 4 weeks.
  • Triggers: Exceeds 85% of baseline (after 4 weeks): team leads call a team meeting to assess the situation

Number of Customer Complaints

  • Description: Total number of formal complaints received from customers within a given period.
  • Rate: Weekly
  • Responsibilities: Team members log complaints; Team leads compile weekly numbers
  • Baseline: Number of Customer Complaints for week 10 of 2025
  • Target: Decrease the number of customer complaints by 30% over 4 weeks..
  • Triggers: Exceeds 85% of baseline (after 4 weeks): team leads call a team meeting to assess the situation

Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT)

  • Description: CSAT (Customer satisfaction score).
  • Rate: Quarterly
  • Responsibilities: Marketing department: Include CSAT Test in the monthly newsletter (each quarter)
  • Baseline: CSAT for March 2025
  • Target: Improve overall customer satisfaction by 10% by the end of the next quarter
  • Triggers: None