Metrics, Measures, and Your Goals
This blog was originally published as a LinkedIn Article in March 2024. The top of the year is always a good time to revisit your data as you set new goals!
We know that setting goals helps us move our organizations forward. But in the midst of all the other demands, goals can too easily become an abstract set of statements that feel disconnected from our daily work. How do we help our teams actually know if they’re making progress? On top of that, we’ve got a million other priorities that compete for our attention. That’s where metrics and measures come in. A clear approach to metrics and measures helps bridge the gap between our daily work and our long term goals.
So what’s a metric and what’s a measure? A metric is an area where we observe change and a measure helps us count that change. For example, if your goal is to increase employee longevity, a metric would be your organization’s retention rate, and some measures that helped you observe that would be how many people you hired in the past year and how many people left. Establishing which measures and metrics you need helps teams operate under a common definition of progress.
Here’s a few tips to help you make your measures and metrics matter as you make work toward your goals:
1. Get familiar with what’s already working:
When setting goals, you should know what data you already have and how far that can get you.
Make sure you’re familiar with the methods used to collect your data.
Know how often this data is collected
Make sure you know who owns the data, and how the standards of this data are maintained.
In order to understand where you’re going, you have to know where you’ve been and how you got there.
2. Set Internal Goals: Now that you know where you’ve been, you can point to where you’re going.
Identify and solidify internal goals. Looking inward is the first step in setting your goals.
Take account of what information you need to help you progress.
Set goals that are useful for the growth of your team and make sure that your team understands their importance.
Picking your internal goals first will help you find the best metrics to use.
3. Establish your Metrics: It's time to determine what metrics are the best for your goals. Setting the goal is great, but knowing your metrics helps you know where to look to determine whether you’re doing what you set out to do.
Research what metrics will back the goals you want to achieve.
Define how these metrics will help you measure your progress towards your goals
Make sure your team understands these metrics and how they help you achieve your goals so they can see the progress.
4. Determine your Measures: The metrics are important to knowing your progress, but in order to have metrics, you need measures. Determining measures for your metrics is an important part of tracking your progress.
Analyze what makes up your metrics. Know what data is backing up the metrics you’ve set.
Refer back to the data you’ve already collected. See what you can use to help you better measure your metrics.
5. Make a Plan: After determining your metrics and measure, create a plan on how to gather the data needed and execute your goals.
Plan how to gather the metrics and measures you need. Knowing what you need and knowing how to get it are two different things.
Track what you’ve already gathered, what you’re gathering, and what is left to gather. Keeping open communications about where you’ve been as a team is crucial to staying on track and being as efficient as possible.
Update how your metrics and measures are supporting and tracking your goals. Data and research can change how we see things, so make sure you are keeping an eye on how these things support your goals. You may have to switch tracks to continue making progress.
These steps can help you get started on understanding what needs to be done to generate progress towards goals. Getting familiar with what you have, setting internal goals, and making a plan to help you know what exactly it takes to get there can help you achieve progress. Progress towards your goals is what you’re looking for, not perfection.
Let Quire help you do the research that will move you towards your goals, sign up for a consultation today!
