Measuring Your Business’ KPIs: A Whitepaper

White Paper: 
Rethinking KPIs"
How to set Numerical Targets and Key
Performance Indicators (KPIs) that will drive
better business RESULTS!

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Written by Stephen Lynch 
Contains excerpts from the book: !
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Business Execution for RESULTS !
A practical guide for leaders of small to mid-sized ﬁrms!
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Available now on Amazon: http://amzn.to/1458mVE!

At the end of every month and quarter and year, your company probably generates a
balance sheet and a profit and loss statement. No matter how accurate they are, they're
only looking in the rearview mirror.!
!
RESULTS.com has been privileged to work with thousands of client firms over the last
15+ years, and currently has thousands of users on the RESULTS.com software
platform. !
!
We work alongside and get to closely observe many of the world’s fastest growing
companies as they create and capture their strategic plans, and then figure out the best
ways to track their performance on their journey to success. !
Rethinking KPIs: about this white paper
In this RESULTS.com white paper, you will learn how to get your people focused on
the numbers that are truly important to drive your business forward. We call them
your Numerical Targets and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Here’s how to use
them to drive better business RESULTS!
RESULTS.com White paper: Rethinking KPIs || DEMO: http://info.results.com/new-software-demo!
!

Numerical targets and milestones
Business is filled with numbers. There are accounting numbers and numbers that measure
operating results, and then there are the ratios and other numbers you can derive from the
original ones. You've got lots of choices. The first section of this whitepaper is about the
numbers you want everyone in your company to be aware of, understand, and talk about. We
call them Numerical Targets.!
!
Let's start with the example of a fictional company (see the chart below). This company chose
"Number of Paying Customers," "Number of Branch Offices," and "Number of Resellers" as the
Numerical Targets it wanted everyone to be aware of. !
!
You might be asking yourself why it didn't choose a financial measure like sales or revenue per
employee? Well, not everyone understands or is motivated by hitting financial targets and
accounting ratios. However, everyone, from the most junior employee through to the CEO
understands what a branch office looks like. They also know what a paying customer looks
like. Those are tangible things that people can imagine and count for themselves if they
wanted to.!
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!
!
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Numerical Target Description! 2 years! 1 year! 90 Days!
Person!
Accountable!
Date:! 31 Dec 2015! 31 Dec 2014! 31 Dec 2014!
# Paying Customers! 3,000! 1,500! 400! Brian!
# Branch Offices! 4! 3! 1! Susan!
# Resellers! 13 ! 8! 3! Karl!

Make your numbers meaningful
By making these Numerical Targets visible, everyone in the company knows that the goal is
to have a total of 400 paying customers by the end of the current quarter. They know that the
goal is to have a total of 1,500 customers by the end of the year. And by the end of the
following year, the company plans to have 3,000 customers.!
!
Now the employees have something tangible they can visualize and grasp. They know how
the company intends to grow and evolve. They can also see that the company intends to
open more branch offices to serve these customers, which no doubt means it will be hiring
more staff as well. !
!
Wow! This company is going places! The future is bright. Using numbers like this helps
employees visualize how their own personal careers could fit into this picture. Perhaps there
are future opportunities for them to grow and develop with the company as the company
achieves each milestone and makes progress toward these Numerical Targets?!
!
!
!
!
!
Person!
Accountable!
Date:! 31 Dec 2015! 31 Dec 2014! 31 Dec 2014!
# Paying Customers! 3,000! 1,500! 400! Brian!
# Branch Offices! 4! 3! 1! Susan!
# Resellers! 13 ! 8! 3! Karl!

Tips for setting numerical targets
Everyone should understand exactly what the number means.!
!
Yes, you can track ﬁnancial results as Numerical Targets, and some companies do. But most
people understand visible, concrete things; things they could count if they chose to.!
!
TIP: You will track these numbers publicly, so select measures
that you don't mind sharing.
!
Remember that you want the people in your company to be aware of these numbers and
discuss them. Inevitably, the competition will learn what you're tracking, so make sure you
don't mind.!
!
These numbers will be the basis for your budgets, ﬁnancial forecasts, human resource
planning, and more. Budgets and forecasts should not be done until you have created your
winning strategy (the topic of another whitepaper), and they must be aligned to the strategic
choices you have made.!
!
Someone must be accountable. There must be a single person who is accountable for
achieving every goal. Many people can be involved, but only one person can be held
accountable.!
!
“Single Point Accountability”
Many people can be involved, but only
ONE person can be held accountable

Keep the numbers relevant
Display the numbers over different time periods.
!
The numbers for this quarter are important. They're hard targets, the things you deﬁnitely
expect to achieve within the next three months. That gives your team clear goals to aim for, but
you need to provide some additional context. Based on what you know to be true right now
(your current reality), what do you expect to achieve by the end of the current year? What
about the year after that?!
!
The further you project into the future, the less certain you can be, because, as we know, your
current reality is always changing. Thus, you need to review and update all your Numerical
Targets at the end of every quarter to ensure each of your stated goals always reﬂect the
current reality.!
!
Nothing is more demoralizing or pointless to your people than keeping annual targets in place
that bear no resemblance to the current reality.!
!
!
Nothing is more demoralizing than
displaying annual targets that bear
no resemblance to the current reality.

Choose your numerical targets
Now it's time to get to work. Get your team together and do
the following:
!
!
!
!
Person!
Accountable!
Date:! DD / MM / YY! DD / MM / YY! DD / MM / YY!
1.  Choose at least one, but no more than three Numerical Targets.
2.  Make sure they are numbers that have meaning for all your people.
3.  Project them over three time periods: 90 days, one year, and 2 or even 3 years.
4.  Identify the person who's accountable overall for achieving those numbers.
Decide how you will make the targets visible. These targets and your progress should be a
regular topic of interest and conversation. Make them noticeable and provide frequent
progress updates.!
!
Some companies use technology to help. I've seen companies use giant computer screens in
their ofﬁces to display the current numbers and highlight progress in real time.!
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!
!

KPIs
(Key Performance Indicators).

At the end of every month and quarter and year, your company probably generates a balance
sheet and a profit and loss statement. No matter how accurate they are, they're only looking in
the rearview mirror.!
!
To improve your results, you need to pay attention to the things that drive the financial results
of your current business. Don't try to pay attention to everything. If you do, then you squander
your attention on many things that don't produce much of a result.!
!
Instead, concentrate on the few but important things that make a big difference. We call these
your Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). These are the handful of leading indicators that will
predict and drive the success of your current business model.!
!
When you've identified your KPIs, you'll be able to say: !
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"If we get these things right, we'll have good results on our financial statements
and increase the value of our company."
!
KPIs (Key Performance Indicators)
A small handful of leading indicators
that predict and drive the success
of your current business model

Here's an example from my own experience: Many years ago, when I was a pharmaceutical
sales manager, I concentrated on the number of physician visits that my sales reps made
every week. I learned that the number of visits was a key driver of financial results. So, every
week, I would review the activity records for the salespeople who worked for me.!
!
When you're trying to identify KPIs, you need to go beyond the first answer to find your most
important results drivers. So, in this case, it was not "sales" (the eventual outcome) but "sales
calls" (the activity that drove the outcome) that I found to be the key driver.!
!
TIP: remember to pick KPIs that drive financial results in your current business
model. Start by listing the outcome you are looking for - the end result. Now ask
yourself the following two questions:
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1.  What is the measurable activity, that if you perform enough of them, will drive !
the end result?!
2.  How could you measure the quality or effectiveness of that activity?!
!
For example, a construction or contracting firm might choose the number of proposals
submitted as an “Activity” KPI, and the percentage of proposals that are successful as their
“Effectiveness” KPI. If both of these KPIs are performed to the desired standard, together they
will drive the eventual “Outcome” the company is looking for - closed deals..!
Activity X effectiveness = RESULTS
Don’t just focus on the end result.
What activities drive those results?

You get what you inspect
KPIs do more than simply measure activity or effectiveness levels. They send a
message to the people in your company, telling them what's important.!
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KPIs tell your staff what you will pay attention to. In other words, KPIs drive behavior.
They help align individual priorities with company priorities.!
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Since all the sales reps I managed knew that I would be monitoring and verifying the
number of calls they made with physicians every week, it made a difference in how they
worked.!
!
If they were tempted to knock off early on a Friday afternoon but had not made their
quota of sales presentations, they'd be much more likely to squeeze in a few more sales
calls before wrapping up the week. !
!
!
What you pay attention to
drives behavior

Choose KPIs that you can measure every day or every week if possible. If your
measurement cycle is longer than a week, you don't catch problems early enough. You
drive better performance with shorter measurement cycles. Shorter cycles let you spot
trends earlier.!
!
When I worked as a sales manager, a single week of sales rep appointment data didn't
tell me much. A rep might have a high number because he or she was able to group
appointments close together in a certain region. Or there might have been a low
number because of travel requirements to service that region. But with a weekly cycle I
could quickly identify the patterns. If a rep had two weeks in a row with below-standard
call numbers, I needed to find out why. If there was a problem, we needed to fix it right
away. Spotting problems early gives you several advantages:!
!
Spotting a problem early means you can solve it sooner. Those below-par numbers
might be down for another week while we worked together to set things right, but they'd
usually be back up in the fourth week. !
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The entire cycle: “problem identification > analysis > correction” took four weeks. That
can't happen if you measure a KPI on a monthly basis. !
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!
Daily and weekly KPIs
Daily and weekly measures
let you spot trends earlier

If you measure every month, four weeks are gone before you see an indicator of a
problem. Then you've only got that single data point, so it takes you more time to
analyze and fix the problem. If you want to see if a pattern develops, two months are
gone before you even begin to fix it. With a monthly measurement cycle, you have
almost zero chance of fixing a problem so that it doesn't affect quarterly results. !
!
There's another advantage to catching problems early: They're usually easier to solve.
The longer a problem lives, the bigger and the nastier it gets. If your KPIs help you
catch problems early, you improve the odds of a good outcome.!
!
Tracking KPIs on a daily and weekly basis is also more engaging for your people,
because it gives them the opportunity to experience the satisfaction of “winning” on a
regular basis (we will cover this important point in more detail in a minute)!
!
!
!
Fix problems when they are small
The longer a problem lives,
the bigger and nastier it gets

The "Key" in Key Performance Indicators means that you concentrate on the most
important measures. Choose no more than ﬁve. Then give your choices the "Tropical
Island Test.”!
!
The tropical island test
Imagine that you're vacationing on a
distant tropical island. It's lovely
there, but it's very remote.
Communications are severely limited.
In fact, you can only receive a single
five-line text message per week to let
you know how things are going at the
company.

The tropical island test
What five numbers sum up the
state of your business?
You want to stay as long as possible
because it's beautiful and peaceful, but you
know that you have to head back if anything
serious starts to go wrong. What things
should you learn from your weekly text
message?!
!
You want the five items that sum up the state
of the business (or your team) for you. You
don't have room for more, so you would
select the five Performance Indicators that
are truly Key.!
!
That's your challenge right now. Identify the
five Key Performance Indicators that will
predict and drive the success of your current
business model. That only took one sentence
for me to write, but it may take you more than
one work session to nail down.!
!
!

Initially, you want to draft out your KPI decisions using something very much like this
chart (below). In this fictional example, knowing the number of New Qualified Leads in
the sales pipeline every week might be an important KPI, but that single piece of
information doesn't tell you enough.!
!
Start with the minimum acceptable level
!
The minimum acceptable level is the level of performance where you can keep the
lights on but not much more. You're not making any progress at that level. In our
example, that threshold for the number of New Qualified Leads in the pipeline is 15.
Above that, you're OK, but just barely. Below that, you're in trouble, and it requires
immediate attention.!
!
!
What keeps the lights on?
= Red
KEY PERFORMANCE
INDICATOR!
RED! YELLOW! GREEN!
MEASUREMENT
FREQUENCY!
PERSON
ACCOUNTABLE !
New qualified leads! 15" 20" Weekly! Mila!
Clients sold! 5" 7" Weekly! Jonel!
Average sale value! $4,500" $5,000" Weekly! Pierre !
Employee % billable! 80%" 85%" Weekly! Laura!
Customer service incidents! 2" 0" Monthly! Han!

Now set the threshold for solidly good performance
!
This is the level of performance you need to see delivered consistently every week if
your company is making progress. In our example below, the green threshold for New
Qualiﬁed Leads is 20. That number goes in the green column to indicate that things are
going well.!
!
There's no need to put a number in the yellow column. Yellow indicates any level of
performance above the minimum threshold, but not the level you really expect. This
column is yellow to alert you that performance could drop into the red unless you !
take action.!
!
Now there's one more thing you should do. Assign one person to be accountable for
performance on each KPI. Many people can be involved, but single-point
accountability is essential.!
!
!
!
How about good performance?
KEY PERFORMANCE
INDICATOR!
RED! YELLOW! GREEN!
MEASUREMENT
FREQUENCY!
PERSON
ACCOUNTABLE !
New qualiﬁed leads! 15" 20" Weekly! Mila!
Clients sold! 5" 7" Weekly! Jonel!
Average sale value! $4,500" $5,000" Weekly! Pierre !
Employee % billable! 80%" 85%" Weekly! Laura!
Customer service incidents! 2" 0" Monthly! Han!
= Green

Now it's time to get to work. Get your team together and do
the following:
"
#
"
"
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Choose your Company KPIs
1.  Pick KPIs that will drive and predict the financial results of your current business
model (or if you are a team manager – the numbers that drive the performance of
your team).
2.  Pick KPIs that you can measure every week (or even every day), where possible.
3.  Pick only the five (or fewer) KPIs that will make the biggest difference for your
company (or team).
KEY PERFORMANCE
INDICATOR!
RED! YELLOW! GREEN!
MEASUREMENT
FREQUENCY!
PERSON
ACCOUNTABLE !

So far we've talked about KPIs for your current business model (or for your team). In
this next section, we'll shift our attention to what we call Role KPIs. I want to make sure
that you have someone responsible for each of the functional areas in the business.!
!
You will maximize growth and profits when:
!
§  You have clear duties and KPIs for each functional role.!
§  You have the right people in each role.!
§  Those people concentrate on the right things.!
§  They are held accountable for performance every month.!
!
Your ﬁrst task is to determine what the functional roles are. And I'm not talking about
your organizational chart, that diagram that indicates who reports to whom and who
everyone's boss is. I suggest you develop a chart with the following columns:!
!
§  Role: what needs to be done!
§  Person accountable for it!
§  KPI: the speciﬁc KPI measurement for each role!
§  The KPI score (target threshold) that indicates acceptable performance!
!
Take a look the next page to get an idea of what a hypothetical,
filled-in chart might look like.
!
!
Functional Role KPIs
!

What are your key functional roles?
FUNCTIONAL ROLE! PERSON ACCOUNTABLE! KPI!
ROLE KPI TARGET: !
!
The required level of performance that
will be assessed MONTHLY !
RED! YELLOW! GREEN!
Head of Company! Fred! Net Profit %! <10%" >20%"
Head of Marketing! Mary! New Qualified Leads / Month! <150" >200"
Mary!
Cost of Client Acquisition
(COCA)!
> $4,000" > $3,000"
Head of Sales! Peter! Lead / Sales Conversion %!
<20%"
"
>30%"
"
Head of Operations! Raoul! Client Lifetime Value (LTV)! <15 mos."
<18 mos."
"
Raoul!
!
Client Monthly Churn! >5%" <3%"
Head of HR! Lisa! Employee Turnover! 3%" 1%"
Head of Customer
Satisfaction!
Susan! Client Net Promoter Score! NPS <30%" NPS >50%"
Head of Business Unit (A)! Vadim! Unit (A) Net Profit %! <5%" >10%"
Head of Business Unit (B)! Ming! Unit (B) Net Profit %!
<20%"
"
>30%"
"
Sales representative(s)! (various)!
Number of Clients sold /
month!
10" 14"

!
It's natural for you to think of functional roles as either the person in the role now or as
the title that a person holds, but you need to forget about people for now and just start
by listing the key functional roles that need to be performed.!
!
Some roles may not be full-time jobs yet. In other words, if you're a small to mid-sized
company, you will often have a single person responsible for several roles. That will
change as you grow.!
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If you're a startup, the founders probably split up the important roles among
themselves. When companies grow, they add levels and role specialists.!
!
Here's how Rich Mironov described the process in his book, The Art of Product
Management: Lessons from a Silicon Valley Innovator:!
!
"One rule of thumb is that organizations have to add a new layer of management each
time they triple their total staff. A company of ten needs a CEO. A company of 30 also
needs VPs. At 90, expect to see Directors as well as VPs."!
!
!
!
Focus on the role, not the person
As companies grow, they add levels
and functional role specialists

!
One KPI per role is ideal. Two is the maximum. A KPI for the marketing function might
be new sales leads or proposals submitted per month. KPIs for the ﬁnance function
might be Days Sales Outstanding or Free Cash.!
!
Just as you did with your overall company (business model) KPIs, you need to add
actual performance thresholds for each Role KPI. Follow the procedure we outlined in
the last section.!
!
Begin with the minimum threshold, the level to keep the lights on but nothing more.
Then add your green measure, the solid level of performance you expect to be
delivered consistently every month. Your yellow level is between those two thresholds.!
!
Get your team together and see if you can fill out the chart on
the next page
!
!
!
!
Add the KPI for each functional role
One KPI per role is ideal
Two is the maximum

Choose your Role KPIs
FUNCTIONAL ROLE! PERSON ACCOUNTABLE! KPI!
ROLE KPI TARGET: !
!
The required level of performance that
will be assessed MONTHLY !
RED! YELLOW! GREEN!
!

Most of the companies we work with start with a list of Role KPIs that needs to be
tweaked to make it more effective. That's what we're going to do next.!
!
Do you have any roles where more than one person is
accountable for results?
!
If you do, you need to assign the role to one person. Single-point accountability is
absolutely critical if you want continued success. Two people can't be accountable for
the same role. One person must take responsibility. If you have two business owners,
only one of you can be CEO. You can't all be accountable for marketing, either. The
rule is one person per role.!
!
Now consider the people you have assigned to each role.
!
Does the person performing the role play to their natural strengths? Do they have the
knowledge, skills, and abilities to do the job effectively? One way that several
companies have analyzed this is to ask, "If we were hiring someone to fulﬁll this role,
would we re-hire this person?" !
!
If not, someone else needs to become the one accountable for the role.!
!
!
!
!
What changes do you need to make?
Do you have the right person
in each functional role?

!
§  Do you have any unassigned roles?
§  If you do, how will you fill them?
§  Do you have any people who are fulfilling multiple roles? Can they do justice to all their
responsibilities? If not, you need to make other arrangements.
Look at your answers to the questions above. Now make a list of organizational
changes you need to make, set a due date, and assign one person the responsibility
for making each change.!
!
!
!
!
What else needs tweaking?
What is your plan for any organizational
changes you need
to make?

There's one more thing before we go on: You should measure your performance on
Role KPIs every month and hold your assigned person accountable for results. As with
so many other things, Peter Drucker said it well: !
!
"Leaders owe it to the organization and their fellow workers not to tolerate non-
performing people in important jobs."
!
Accountability is meaningless without consequences. Sometimes we need to make an
example of poor performance. Sometimes we even need to let someone go.!
!
You can be fairly sure of one thing: Your team probably already knows who the poor
performers are. They're just waiting to see whether or not you're going to do anything
about it, whether or not you're serious about accountability for performance.!
!
Are your people in each functional role being held accountable every month for
achieving the performance they're responsible for? Are there positive consequences if
they do well? What are the negative consequences if they don't?!
!
How do you stay on top of it all to ensure your team are achieving the desired
RESULTS? That's what our next section, "Performance Made Visible," is about.!
!
!
Beyond accountability
Accountability is meaningless
without consequences

Beyond Accountability Quickly see which areas of the business are performing
well, and which areas need support. Easy management of KPIs, Projects and
Tasks. Company wide communication via the water cooler (social news feed). !
Water
Cooler /
Social Feed!
Weekly
Priorities +
Individual
Tasks!
High Level
Goals (team
or individual)!
Improve workplace accountability,
schedule your free demo:
http://info.results.com/new-software-demo

Why do so many great plans come to nothing?!
!
Experts tell us that between 60 percent and 90 percent of all strategic initiatives fail to
achieve their objectives. Our own experience working with companies bears this out.!
!
At one point in its history, RESULTS.com earned fees primarily by providing consulting
services to help clients to develop effective strategic plans, plans that improved the
odds of success. We would work with clients for two days at the beginning of the year,
to create a well-thought-through strategic plan.!
!
Then we'd return every quarter to review progress and update their plans. We'd help
them perform an updated reality check (SWOT analysis) and align their plan with the
new reality. Then we'd help them choose their new Strategic Projects and Numerical
Targets for the next quarter.!
!
We would all feel great at the end of the quarterly sessions. The business leaders and
their teams would tell us how aligned and focused and motivated they felt. They knew
what their new projects and targets were. They were ready to charge off again on
another 90-day sprint.!
!
!
Are you getting great RESULTS?
Why do up to 90% of strategies fail?

Unfortunately, when we got together again after three months had elapsed, we would
ask them whether they had completed their Strategic Projects, and they would shuffle
and look down at their feet. We would ask to see how their KPIs had been tracking.
More shuffling. Then the excuses would come out:!
!
§  We got too busy and just could not get it done.!
§  We were too optimistic in our goal setting.!
§  We got distracted by another opportunity and focused on that instead.!
§  We forgot to measure our KPIs and keep them updated.!
!
Our clients are very smart people. They had robust strategic plans that were updated
every quarter to address the current reality. But they weren't getting the results they
wanted.!
!
What was happening to them was something that happens to almost everyone. It
happens to me, and it will happen to you if you let it. We let the urgent drive out the
important. We put off doing things, believing we can catch up later. We let ourselves
think that we're doing OK, but we don't ever compare that gut feeling to real data. You
have to find a way of linking strategic planning to business execution.!
!
Uh oh!
You need real data to
drive business execution

We decided that, if we were going to provide consulting services to a client, they had to
agree to meet with us for a one-hour virtual meeting each week to check on progress
and to agree on the key action items that needed to get done in the coming week to
move their Strategic Projects and KPIs forward. We called these "weekly execution
meetings," and they made a world of difference in terms of getting the right things
done.!
!
Now clients were being held accountable by an external third party every week for
tracking and driving their KPIs, and for implementing their Strategic Projects on time.
We got very good at running these meetings to drive execution. We also taught our
clients key success habits and helped them to implement these practices to make their
companies even more effective at business execution. The weekly consulting sessions
became a core service offering.!
!
We made sure that our clients kept the important things "top of mind" and that they took
meaningful action on their Strategic Projects and KPIs every week. We kept our clients
on a short leash, helped them avoid distractions, and made sure they stayed focused
on their stated goals.!
!
!
Weekly execution meetings helped
Weekly meetings are vital to
drive business execution

Even though the weekly execution meetings dramatically improved our clients'
performance against goals, we knew they could do better. We developed simple
tracking methods that our clients could use to track their own performance between
meetings.!
!
In the beginning, those were manual systems like electronic whiteboards and Excel
spreadsheets, and we tried all kinds of methods to see if we could ﬁnd something that
would make performance visible – if people can see how they're doing on the important
things, they're more likely to attend to those important things.!
!
And if their performance is visible to their peers, we've found that it acts as a spur to
improved performance.!
!
But we know we could do better
Making performance visible
leads to improved performance

Enhance Productivity: Run more effective meetings to discuss performance and
hold people accountable for goal achievement. Publically share success stories. !
Improve meeting effectiveness,
Company
wide goal
analysis!
Meeting
template /
agenda !

One of the most difficult and demanding tasks in aviation is landing on an aircraft
carrier. People who've learned to fly will tell you that landing an airplane is hard all by
itself. Now think about landing on a small field that's moving forward while pitching and
rolling. Bad weather and equipment problems can make it even harder.!
!
Every carrier landing is graded for safety and technique. Average scores are computed
for every carrier pilot. Those average scores are posted where all the pilots can see
them on what the navy calls a “Greenie Board”, and the pilots are ranked in order from
best to worst. As a friend of mine told me, "No one wants to be on the bottom of that
list."!
!
Making performance visible has two advantages that come straight from
human nature:
!
1.  When people are reminded of what's important and of how they're doing, they're more
likely to do the important things.
2.  When they know that their performance is visible to others, they're more likely to push
for excellence. People don't want to be "on the bottom of the board," and they don't
want to let their colleagues down. Making individual performance visible also ties in with
our principle of single-point accountability.
!
!
!
No one wants to be bottom of the list
When performance is made visible,
they’re more likely to push for excellence

We learned that the level of performance
should be visible at a glance.
!
The best way to make that happen is by
having a quick color code for results. We
recommend the standard red, yellow, and
green of the trafﬁc light. Results that are
colored red are not up to standard; sound
the alarm! Yellow is the minimum acceptable
threshold that enables you to keep operating,
and green is the target level of performance
that you expect to be achieved most of the
time, if the overall company is performing
well and if people are performing well in their
key functional roles.!
!
!
!
!
Everyone “gets” the traffic light
We used to call our tracking system "dashboarding.” Dashboards make performance
visible. In your car, the dashboard tells you – at a glance – how fast you're going, how much
fuel you have in the tank, and the status of basic systems like lubrication and engine
cooling. If something starts to go wrong, your car sounds the alarm to let you know.!
!
!
!
!

The spreadsheets and manual systems worked, but they had to be updated frequently,
often by hand. That introduced the chance of error and the ever-present possibility that
the dashboard didn't reflect the current reality.!
!
Also, the fact is that not everyone in a company uses spreadsheets, and those who do
may not look at them every day. We wanted something that everyone could see and
use to track performance.!
!
We reviewed software dashboarding programs as they were introduced. None of them
did what we wanted. Many didn't address business execution issues. Some were great
at financial and operational measures, but they didn't help much with goals and
projects. Other programs were variations on project management. They tracked
progress on goals, but they didn't have a link to the strategic plan. Others were great at
fostering collaborative communication, but did not make sure things were actually
getting done.!
!
We couldn't find anything that would do what we knew was important for business
success. So we said, "The hell with it. Let's develop our own software." On the next
page is the initial wish list of requirements we came up with to develop our own
RESULTS.com software:!
!
!
!
Spreadsheets were too limited
We wanted something that
everyone could see and use

q  Offers a shared platform to view the Strategic Projects and Key Performance
Indicators, so that everyone in the company knows what the strategic plan is and
the important things they need to focus on to play their part!
q  Provides a helicopter view of how everyone is performing, including the ability to
monitor team and individual progress at a glance!
q  Uses color coding to show whether a Strategic Project or KPI is on track!
q  Has the ability to assign tasks to speciﬁc individuals to move goals forward!
q  Displays daily reminders to hold people accountable to make sure tasks are
completed on time!
q  Runs more effective team and one-on-one meetings that drive the business forward!
q  Records meeting minutes and decisions made!
q  Enables real-time collaboration to capture conversations, discussions, and
feedback!
q  Integrates with other commonly used business software!
q  Is available anywhere, anytime, on any device!
We want a software solution that:
Use this checklist for any software
system you choose or develop

The growing demand for this type of solution is why RESULTS.com made the strategic
decision to transform our business from being a consulting ﬁrm that used software to
support our consulting, to become a software ﬁrm that uses our consulting expertise to
develop and support our software.!
!
The execution of this strategy will no doubt change as the environment changes, and it
will result in new opportunities that cannot be imagined yet, but we do know that
making performance visible is vital to better business RESULTS!!
!
!
Radical Transparency
+ =
+ Performance
+ Visibility
+ Freedom
Learn how to improve team engagement,

Don’t make these
mistakes…

People love to make progress, and even minor progress events can be powerful
motivators. I like to call those events "small wins." Small wins are the incremental steps
toward our longer term goals. Research shows that when people can see tangible
progress and experience "small wins" often, they become more engaged and
productive.!
!
That's where RESULTS.com software can be so powerful. It lets your people see
progress on their Projects and KPIs every step of the way. !
!
You must apply the “right” amount of pressure too.!
!
!
!
!
The progress principle
Did you know that people actually perform worse when their goals are set too high, or when they are stressed
out and scrambling to meet tight deadlines? Managers need to involve their people in goal-setting to ensure
the goals are achievable; that is if they want their people to fully engage and “buy in” to their goals.
!
!
!
People want to make a difference and feel pride in their accomplishments. However, if
they experience frequent setbacks in their work, or feel that their manager is blocking
them from achieving these “small wins” they can quickly become disillusioned.
Managers have a duty to clear the path and remove obstacles, to ensure their people
keep achieving these small wins each and every week. !
!
!
!
Do you let your people experience
the joy of winning every week?

It's important to set your Numerical Targets and KPI performance thresholds so that
they help you achieve long-term success. But here's where I see many ﬁrms come
unstuck.!
!
Most entrepreneurs and high-performing team members are optimists by nature. They
like to set themselves challenging goals and targets, and they're sure that everything
will turn out well.!
!
Unfortunately, what I often see happen is that they set their “green” performance
thresholds for their KPIs so high that they seldom reach them. They justify that by
saying, "Aim for the stars and you might reach the moon." In other words, even if you
miss the really high goal, you'll still do well.!
!
That might work for some people, but it doesn't work for most of us. It has the effect of
showing people always being "in the red" in term of how their performance is displayed.
The proof is on their dashboard every day. They get used to being in the red. After a
while it becomes the norm. They can become apathetic: "What's the use?"!
!
Also, if they do not feel like they can immediately turn the score around, being in the
red starts to become the norm – and people decide that if being in the red is always the
case, then being in the red must be OK. A culture of mediocrity develops. Better to set
Relevant and Achievable Goals, get people used to “winning” and ratchet up the
performance thresholds over time. !
!
!
!
Don’t set goals too high
Don’t let being “in the red”
become the norm

Sometimes you have to lower
your sights
q  Acknowledge the changing reality
q  Sometimes you need to lower goals,
especially if you have a seasonal business
q  Set your people up to succeed
q  Even in a downward cycle, you still
need to experience “small wins”

Many times it can be ideal for KPIs to be calculated automatically from your various
measurement systems and have these numbers synced directly to your RESULTS.com
software (or whatever performance management tool you use).!
!
However, we have noticed something interesting in observing our client ﬁrms. When
every number on a team member’s dashboard is fully automated, they tend to pay less
attention and can even become disconnected with their numbers if you are not careful.
It takes a manager who is disciplined and conscientious to meet with their team
members every week to discuss performance with each individual to ensure everyone
remains “connected” with, and accountable for their numbers.!
!
To really drive accountability, we recommend that you also ﬁnd one KPI number for
each team member where they need to update the score manually themselves, ideally
on a daily basis, so that they remain connected with their own KPI performance at all
times. !
!
Usually this is a daily activity measure within that person’s control: number of calls
made, number of orders processed, number of customers spoken to, number of 1 on 1
employee meetings etc. You can total this daily number up at the end of every week, or
even calculate a daily average score. !
!
Your aim is for every team member to reach the end of the week and be able to smile
and say, “I had a good week, I’m in the green.” !
!
!
!
Don’t automate everything
Find one number that people need to input
manually themselves every day

According to Harvard research, “radical transparency” can be a major driver of
increased organizational performance. The researchers state that the biggest reason
companies fail is because people lose focus and get off track. However, by making
everyone’s performance visible, this helps to remove distractions and enables people
to concentrate on what is important. What’s more, when everyone can see on a
dashboard how everyone else on the team is performing, all employees get treated
fairly according to their performance.!
!
Yes, radical transparency can create winners and losers, and that environment can be
tough for people who are not “A-Players”. Some leaders seem concerned that their
people will become disengaged when confronted by the reality of their performance.
I’ve got news for you. It’s a fact of life. We measure performance in school. We measure
performance in sports. Would you really watch sports if no one kept the score? Would
the coach keep players on the team who are not performing? Of course not. Why
should your business be any different? Are you doing your team a favor by carrying
people who just show up and don’t perform to the agreed standard?!
!
Radical transparency is a trend pervading all aspects of our lives; from sharing our
lives through social media, to having our location tracked by our mobile devices to
advances in wearable technology that measure our health and ﬁtness in real time.
Radical transparency is coming to your workplace too and there many beneﬁts to
companies that do it well.!
!
!
Radical transparency drives RESULTS
!

Time to get started.
Implement the right
KPIs in your business.

Shared Vision + !
Strategy!
Improved collaboration!
and alignment with culture!
Actionable metrics!
to achieve better results!
Accountability for!
greater performance!
The RESULTS.com platform gives you
the complete package to drive both
performance and improve employee
engagement. The game changer is the
concept of Radical Transparency.
Everyone in your organization has
complete visibility into individual and
company performance, and each part of
the platform is aimed at improving
autonomy, mastery, and purpose.
All are requirements to drive
extraordinary results.
The management
revolution
RESULTS.com Product Review: Rethinking KPIs!

THE COMPLETE PACKAGE!
ü Strategic Plan!
ü Execution Planning !
ü Project Management!
ü Task Management !
ü  KPI dashboarding!
ü Communication & Collaboration !
ü Business Intelligence!
ü Meetings and Accountability!
ü People performance!
Vision, Strategy, and Culture! Collaboration Feeds!
KPI, Project and !
Task Management!
Meetings and Accountability !
The RESULTS.com platform a comprehensive
look into your business
!

To be able to, at the push of a button on our iPhone,
have a snapshot of how everyone’s performing while
we’re overseas is a big thing for us. “I think it has drawn
the team together and when someone is struggling or
not hitting numbers everybody chips in to see how we
can help.”
Dean Young, CEO. BRAVEday"
“
It helps us to focus on success not perfection: measure, tweak
and get rid of goals if they are not useful. Freedom from other
software means we can create goals for the things that can
make the greatest difference now. Ability to link current tasks
and activities to strategic objectives. A platform for the team to
engage in conversation that is related to what we need to
achieve. Create a meeting structure aimed at progress against
our strategic objectives. It provides a platform to have some fun
in when dealing with our business activities”
Accountant, Bishop Toomey Pfeifer
“It is a way for us to communicate internally, what we're
working on, I explain the water cooler and how it promotes
transparency. I have never had any issues of anybody
picking it up right away. I like when I post on water cooler it
forces me to make sure I complete that action, it encourages
me that I have to finish it as I told everybody I was working
on it. We are trying to get a lot more exposure on what it
can do for us, we are on the tip of the iceberg. over the last 9
months that we have been using it it has become a way of
life to just do the minimum, we want to fully utilize the
great capabilities of the product.”
Controlled Contamination Services"
“
For the folks out in the field the software helps the view and
track their own numbers, rather than finding out their results
retrospectively. Being tradesmen, I was not sure how they
would respond, but the proof is in the outcome. In the first
two weeks of access to the information, the average $ sale
increased by 15%.”
Darlene Henshaw, Replacement Lamp Services"
“
Here’s what they’re saying:5,000+ users
RESULTS.com Product Review: Rethinking KPIs || DEMO: http://info.results.com/new-software-demo!
!

About RESULTS.com
!
We provide cloud-based software that empowers
everyone at every level of your business to meaningfully
contribute towards your company’s success – and
ultimately their own.!
!
To learn how to implement the RESULTS.com framework
into your business to transform your business potential
into extraordinary results, please contact us at:!
info@results.com !
SEE A FREE  
SOFTWARE DEMO#
FREE ACCESS TO THE#
ONE PAGE PLAN#FOLLOW US:
Twitter" @RESULTSdotcom#
Facebook" http://facebook.com/RESULTSdotcom#
SlideShare" http://slideshare.net/RESULTSdotcom#
LinkedIn" http://goo.gl/ExY9Xr#
NEXT STEPS:
Set yourself up for
success, sign up for
other helpful tools below
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RESULTS.com || White paper: Rethinking KPIs || DEMO: http://info.results.com/new-software-demo!
!

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