My main project this week has been redoing the tracking of our key performance indicators (KPIs) so that they are centralized in a shared Google Spreadsheet with automatic color coding to indicate where we are in relation to our goals. We’ve been monitoring KPIs for years but never had a system that was as transparent and simple as I would have liked. With that said, our existing One Page Strategic Plan does contain our goals for the current quarter, current year, and next three years in a readily digestible format.
Google Spreadsheets proved to be a logical choice as the framework for tracking our KPIs on a weekly basis due to its flexibility with conditional formatting as well as its team collaboration functionality. The spreadsheet has the following three tabs and content:
Data
- Department in column one
- KPI categories in column two
- Columns three and beyond each represent a week, with the current week in column three
- Each row with the KPIs has a corresponding row beneath it with the calculated percent of goal in a color coded cell (based on percentages outlined in a previous post)
Goals
- Similar to the Data tab with departments in column one and KPI categories in column two
- Columns three and beyond each represent the goal for that KPI in a specific quarter, with column three always being the current quarter
Explanation
- Columns one and two are the same as in the previous tabs
- Column three has a paragraph explanation of the KPI and why we track it
I’m excited about tracking our KPIs in this new dashboard format and seeing how it helps us focus on areas where we can improve our business. Please let me know how your organization implements KPI dashboards and any ideas for improvement of ours.
David Cummings on Startups 
Neat idea. So, what do these spreadsheets look like (feel free to blue or sanitize)? We do a lot of dashboard-type work, and we are always looking at the design of them. It’s not just the numbers, though they are obviously the most important thing. Their effectiveness is also heavily tied to whether the numbers, charts, etc. are easily and quickly understood.
Thanks Paul. I just put the spreadsheet online as a Google Spreadsheet Template so anyone can try it out and use it:
http://docs.google.com/templates?q=Hannon+Hill+KPI+Dashboard&sort=hottest&view=author
Way cool, David! I tried downloading your spreadsheet template, but it links to an empty search. I would love to see what you’re talking about and try it out on my side.
Thanks Sam. Try this link and let me know if it works:
http://docs.google.com/templates?q=Hannon+Hill
For tracking goals, you may want to check out http://www.GoalsOnTrack.com, a very nicely built web app designed for tracking goals and todo lists, and supports time tracking too. It’s clear, focused, easy to navigate, worth a try.
Wow – just saw the date listed on this original post. This was just linked to via Twitter account and I assumed it was more recent.
Original post not showing – so just ignore.