Which performance indicators should you track?
Efficiency question :
The best performance indicator is the one that most closely reflects the organization’s needs. There is therefore no universal list of indicators that will suit every business.
Performance indicators vary by industry, but also according to the entrepreneur’s or executive’s vision. Each organization has its own priorities and its own way of measuring results.
The objective is therefore to determine what truly matters to the organization and translate those priorities into performance indicators that can be monitored over time.
Key considerations:
Access to data remains an important consideration. An executive may know exactly what they want to measure, but the data required to calculate the indicator must be available and sufficiently structured to be used.
When managing an organization, certain parameters naturally become more important than others. These elements can make excellent performance indicators, provided the data needed to measure them rigorously is available.
The choice of indicators must therefore take into account both management’s needs and data accessibility.
Challenges:
Identifying the right indicators requires experience and, above all, a strong understanding of the organization.
An effective method is to speak directly with the entrepreneur, president, or executives. They can generally explain, in their own words, what matters to them, what they monitor, and what they want to measure.
The challenge is then to translate these concerns and objectives into measurable performance indicators using the available data.
Technology:
DAX functions, short for Data Analysis Expressions, available notably with Power Pivot, can be used to create calculation measures from the various fields in a dataset.
In addition to standard formulas, these functions make it possible to perform calculations tailored to the organization’s specific needs and build the measures required for performance indicators.
DAX is therefore particularly useful when transforming available data into indicators that meet management’s needs.
Developer's advice:
Not all performance indicators provide the same value. Presenting too many can also make information harder to interpret and draw attention away from the results that truly matter.
In a dashboard, whether created with Excel, Copilot, or Power BI, favour a limited number of indicators that directly reflect the organization’s priorities.
Also pay attention to visual presentation. A monochromatic approach can present results using different shades of the same colour. For example, several shades of blue can be used instead of multiplying colours.
This approach reduces visual overload and focuses the user’s attention more directly on the results and indicators themselves.
For concrete examples, also visit the Services page dedicated to dashboards on the SLV Expert website. Take time to review the different dashboards shown and, especially, the labels used. They can provide examples of relevant performance indicators and help you identify those that could be adapted to your organization’s needs.