How to Define Smart KPIs Examples and Milestones: What the Experts Say

All businesses have metrics. Any objective that needs to be met will be eventually turned into asking how many times can we meet this metric and at what frequency. This is at the heart of all good businesses, yet can also prove to be distracting or counterintuitive. How do I set effective milestones for my company? What even is a smart milestone? Are they dauntingly demotivating? Or are they not motivating enough, am I capping my employees’ potential? Here, find out what the experts say about smart KPIs, with some wonderfully smart KPI examples. But first, what specifically is KPI? KPI means “Key Performance Indicator.” It is a metric by which you track your key business targets and map their business outcomes. They mean to show your team the expectation and help keep them on task like a quota.

Here are the four most prominent KPI examples are:

1. Customer Satisfaction
2. Employee Satisfaction
3. Internal Process Quality
4. Financial Performance Index

Other places exposit that there are 11 or 12 types of KPI, here are three of these as follows:

1. Quantitative Indicators that Can Be Presented with a Number
2. Quantitative Indicators that Can’t Be Presented with a Number
3. Leading Indicators that Can Predict the Outcome of a Process

When targeting KPIs for your business, it is important to keep in mind the idea of what metrics matter most to the business you’re operating. Generally, KPIs that focus on time and finance budgeting include variables for all businesses to focus on.

• What is the Estimate Time for Completion
• How Much is the Actual Cost for Project Completion

These both stand as Project Management KPIs. Set with keeping things to task and focused on the actual campaign itself as the starting hub. With all questions answered intent on responding to that. Additionally, others focus on Human Resource KPI and monitor things like:

• Total Revenue Per Employee
• Employee Satisfaction Index

Another big KPI metric falls under Financial KPI.

This is the bread and butter for a lot of major companies looking to set themselves apart and stretch their margins. Financial KPIs include:

• Profitability KPIs
• Liquidity KPIs
• Efficiency KPIs
• Valuation KPIs
• Leverage KPIs

These smart KPIs examples allow for growth and to make sure a company holds itself to tasks. However, the KPI itself potentially sets barriers to entry that make it harder to acquire success if it adds that restrictive cap.