Fundamentals of Measures: Key Concepts and Terms

Measures are used to gauge operational performance, allocate resources, and identify opportunities for improvement. Measures allow organizations to track performance over time and compared to internal or external benchmarks (e.g., industry average or top performers).

Designing a toolbox of key performance drivers helps organizations not only better manage internal processes, but also identify key practices that can be adopted to improve performance. These practices and the desired outcomes can be better communicated once the measures are established along with their targets.