Creating and Updating KPIs

Learn how to create, manage, and update your organization's KPIs.

Written by Tommy Mains

Updated at September 26th, 2024

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Table of Contents

What Are KPIs? Video Overview of the Data Tool Adding KPIs to Your Team's Scorecard Editing or Changing KPIs Maintaining Your KPIs Adding Notes to a KPI's Entry Customizing a KPI's Goal for One Reporting Period Goal Forecasting Removing KPIs KPI Examples Further Reading On KPIs Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What Are KPIs?

A Key Performance Indicator (KPI) is a quantifiable metric used to evaluate the success of an organization, team, or Seat in meeting agreed-upon performance objectives. While KPIs are metrics, not all metrics are KPIs. KPIs are only the most essential (or key) metrics. 

 

Video Overview of the Data Tool

 

Adding KPIs to Your Team's Scorecard

There are two ways to populate your team's Scorecard with KPIs:

  1. Creating brand new KPIs.
  2. Adding KPIs already created by your organization.

 

Creating New KPIs

  1. Click Data from the left navigation.
  2. Select a team from the dropdown.
  3. Choose a Scorecard (Weekly, Trailing, Monthly, Quarterly, or Annual).
  4. Click the plus sign.
  5. Click Create and Add a New KPI.
  6. Enter the title and other information.
  7. Click Save.

📖 Read this article to learn more about smart KPIs.

 
 

Adding Existing KPIs

Follow these steps to add a previously created KPI to your team's Scorecard:

  1. Click Data from the left navigation.
  2. Select a team from the dropdown.
  3. Choose a Scorecard (Weekly, Trailing, Monthly, Quarterly, or Annual).
  4. Click the plus sign.
  5. Click Add an Existing KPI.
  6. Search for and then click the KPI you wish to add.
  7. Click Save.
 
 

 

Editing or Changing KPIs

While editing KPIs, all changes are saved automatically.

To edit an existing KPI:

  1. Click Data from the left navigation.
  2. Select a team from the dropdown.
  3. Click on a KPI to open its details card.
  4. Change any of the following details:
    1. Title
    2. Description
    3. Unit of measurement
    4. Goal information
    5. KPI owner and their Seat
    6. Make it smart

 

Learn how to use existing KPIs as variables to automatically calculate KPI data from the article below.

Read More

 

 

Maintaining Your KPIs

All licensed users can be assigned KPIs and input data for any of their team's KPIs. You can input scores for your KPIs from the My 90 page or the Data tool page. Your My 90 workspace shows all the KPIs you own across every team. 

To add scores in My 90

  1. Click My 90 from the left navigation.
  2. Scroll to the Scorecard section.
  3. Type in your scores to the corresponding KPI and reporting period cell.
  4. Click the Period Interval dropdown to access your Trailing, Monthly, Quarterly, and Annual Scorecards.

To enter scores using the Data tool

  1. Click Data from the left navigation.
  2. Choose a team from the Team dropdown.
    1. Click another Scorecard tab to switch away from the Weekly Scorecard.
  3. Locate the KPI.
  4. Type the score in the reporting period cell.

 

Adding Notes to a KPI's Entry

All licensed users can add notes to KPIs. Having notes available to provide extra context for a KPI's progress over time helps save time in meetings by having documentation readily available.

To add a note to a KPI

  1. Click Data from the left navigation.
  2. Choose your team from the dropdown.
  3. Choose a Scorecard (Weekly, Trailing, Monthly, Quarterly, or Annual).
  4. Click the magnifying glass on the top left of an individual cell on a KPI's row.
  5. Write your notes.
  6. Click Save.

 

Editing any instance of a KPI changes it on every Scorecard.

 

 

Customizing a KPI's Goal for One Reporting Period

You can create a custom goal on a KPI. Similar to forecasting, custom goals allow users to account for absences, holidays, and other exceptions.

To customize a KPI's goal for a single reporting period:

  1. Click Data from the left navigation.
  2. Choose a team from the Team dropdown.
  3. Click the magnifying glass in the top left corner of a KPI's reporting period cell.
  4. Write a custom goal or add a note.
  5. Click Save.

 

Goal Forecasting

Goal Forecasting allows you to plan ahead. Companies that have busy or slow seasons can use this feature to keep goals on track and note their forecasted seasonal goals. 

 

Creating a Goal Forecast doesn't change the entire goal, only the goal for the specified timeframe.

 

 

A common example is to account for Team Member vacations. If Sarah, who is responsible for authoring articles, is going to be out for two weeks in May, you can create a forecast of 0 new articles with a note of "Out of Office." This keeps Sarah's KPI on track and accurate during her vacation. Once the two weeks are up, her goal automatically goes back to the set number of articles per week.

 

Creating a Goal Forecast

You must have Manager or higher-level permissions to create or edit a Goal Forecast. We recommend filling in the Notes section of a forecast so you can see why the goal was changed from its normal Scorecard.

  1. Click Data from the left navigation.
  2. Choose a team from the Team dropdown.
  3. Click the graph icon from the filters bar.
  4. Click a reporting period on a KPI's row.
  5. Click the paper icon to add a note.
  6. Click anywhere else on the screen or tap the enter key on your keyboard to save.
  7. Once the forecast is added, it automatically displays on the Scorecard.

 

Removing KPIs

There are two ways to remove a KPI from a Scorecard. 

  • Permanently delete a KPI
  • Remove a KPI from a single Scorecard

 

Permanently Delete

Only a KPI's owner can delete it. 

  1. Click My 90 from the left navigation.
  2. Right-click the KPI you want to delete.
  3. Click Delete KPI from Scorecard.
  4. Click I understand… Delete anyway.

Deleting a KPI removes it from each Scorecard it's on, any Processes it's linked to, and your Vision if it's used there.

 
 
 

Remove from a Scorecard

You can remove a KPI from a Scorecard from the My 90 workspace or the Data tool.

  1. Click on the KPI you want to remove.
  2. Click the three dots at the top of the popup.
  3. Click Remove KPI from Scorecard.
 
 

 

KPI Examples

Ninety's leadership team recommends having every Seat in the organization own 3-5 KPIs. While KPIs can look different depending on your industry and many other factors, we wanted to offer some examples.

 

Net Profit Example

To create a pre-calculated metric tracking your company's Net Profit, you can create a smart KPI using pre-existing KPIs tracking your Total Revenue and Total Expenses over a given time period.

Step 1

First, you'll need to decide the time scope for your Net Profit KPI by selecting one of the following Scorecards:

  • Weekly
  • Monthly
  • Quarterly
  • Annual

Step 2

Next, create KPIs for Total Revenue and Total Expenses.

  1. Click Data from the left navigation.
  2. Click the desired Scorecard to add the KPIs to (Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly, or Annual).
  3. Click the plus button (+).
  4. Click Create and Add a New KPI from the dropdown.
  5. Write the KPI's title.
  6. Add the KPI's owner using the person icon on the top left of the details card or with the corresponding dropdown.
  7. Write a goal for the KPI.
  8. Click Save.
  9. Populate any number of reporting periods for each KPI.

Step 3

Finally, create the Net Profit smart KPI.

  1. Click the plus button on the same Scorecard.
  2. Click Create and Add a New KPI.
  3. Add a title, goal, and accountable team member.
  4. Toggle on Smart KPI.
  5. Click Add KPI.
  6. Click your Total Revenue KPI from the list.
  7. Click the minus (-) sign.
  8. Click Add KPI.
  9. Click your Total Expenses KPI from the list.
  10. Click Save.

The new KPI will automatically calculate your Net Profit for every reporting period, using data from the previous two KPIs.

 
 

Expenses as a Percentage of Revenue Example

To create a pre-calculated metric tracking your company's expenses as a percentage of revenue, you can create a smart KPI using pre-existing KPIs tracking your Total Revenue and Total Expenses over a given time period.

Step 1

First, you'll need to decide the time scope for your Expenses as a Percentage of Revenue KPI by selecting one of the following Scorecards:

  • Weekly
  • Monthly
  • Quarterly
  • Annual

Step 2

Next, create KPIs for Total Revenue and Total Expenses.

  1. Click Data from the left navigation.
  2. Click the desired Scorecard to add the KPIs to (Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly, or Annual).
  3. Click the plus button (+).
  4. Click Create and Add a New KPI from the dropdown.
  5. Write the KPI's title.
  6. Add the KPI's owner using the person icon on the top left of the details card or with the corresponding dropdown.
  7. Write a goal for the KPI.
  8. Click Save.
  9. Populate any number of reporting periods for each KPI.

Step 3

Finally, create the Expenses as a Percentage of Revenue smart KPI.

  1. Click the plus button on the same Scorecard.
  2. Click Create and Add a New KPI.
  3. Add a title, goal, and accountable team member.
  4. Toggle on Smart KPI.
  5. Click Add KPI.
  6. Click your Total Expenses KPI from the list.
  7. Click the division (/) sign.
  8. Click Add KPI.
  9. Click your Total Revenue KPI from the list.
  10. Click the multiply (*) sign.
  11. Click Add Number
  12. Type in “100”.
  13. Click the check mark or press your enter/return key.
  14. Click Save.

The new KPI will automatically calculate your Expenses as a Percentage of Revenue for every reporting period, using data from the previous two KPIs.

 
 

 

Further Reading On KPIs

Learn more about KPIs, Scorecards, and healthy data habits in our guide, On Data.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are a primary vehicle for organizing and gathering our data. 

KPIs help us: 

  • Keep a pulse on organizational, departmental, team, or individual performance
  • Inform decision-making 
  • Decipher what's working and what's not 
  • Track the progress of objectives 
  • Agree on when there is an Issue

Your KPIs are working for you when they help identify areas that need action. Teams should review their specific Scorecard during weekly meetings. Any surprises should be noted and turned into Issues to discuss.

 

 

 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What does it mean to own a KPI?

To “own” a KPI means to be accountable for its success. Each KPI's owner has their profile picture featured on the Scorecard. KPI owners should create an Issue about their KPI whenever it’s off track, needs updating, or has consistently surpassed its target.

 
 

How do I change a KPI's owner?

There are two ways to change a KPI's owner:

  1. Click the KPI to open its details card.
  2. Click the profile photo on the top right of the card.
  3. Hover over a Seat from the dropdown.
  4. Click one of the users who occupy that Seat.

Or:

  1. Click the KPI to open its details card.
  2. Click the KPI Owner dropdown toward the bottom of the details card.
  3. Choose a Team Member.
  4. (Optional) Select the relevant Seat from the Seat dropdown if this user sits in multiple Seats.
 
 

What about OKRs, or how can I use a Scorecard to monitor my OKRs?

Objectives and Key Results (OKR) is a popular framework for focusing resources on completing specific goals. Our users can capture their OKRs as Rocks or goals in their team's Vision and turn several of the listed key results into KPIs to monitor on their Scorecard.

For example, if you're projecting an incoming growth and hiring period, you may want to ensure your onboarding process is effective, so you could have a version of the following OKR: 

Objective: We will improve our onboarding process by the end of the quarter.
Key Results: 

  • Conduct stay interviews with existing team members.
  • Create Seat-specific onboarding checklists.
  • Obtain above 90% completion rates on onboarding checklists.

All three of these key results can be turned into KPIs. Here's an example of a KPI from the first key result:

  1. Stay Interviews
    1. Description: Complete a stay interview with each team member to inform new onboarding processes. Our goal is to conduct five interviews each week throughout the quarter.
    2. Unit: Number
    3. Goal: 5
    4. Goal orientation: Greater than or equal to goal
 
 
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