Key performance indicators (KPIs) have been discussed several times before (here, here, and here). In general, we do two KPIs per department and discuss them at our weekly tactical if a value is out of line. There’s always the tendency to try and complicate things by adding one, two, or three more per department but I’ve found that it is hard enough to concentrate on a couple things let alone five different items multiplied out by several departments (sales, marketing, services, support, operations, and engineering).
One thing to note is that KPIs should be revisited at least quarterly for both the goals for that quarter as well as the items being measured. I’ve found that we usually change one KPI completely each quarter to try a new metric to see if better represents one of the two most important numbers for a department. Most individual KPI goals change each quarter in an upward manner but some stay pretty steady (e.g. engineering average of 32 burn down hours per week per developer).
My recommendation is to keep KPIs simple and to revisit them at least quarterly. KPIs should be fluid metrics that are constantly improving, but not complicated.
What else? What other tips do you have about revisiting KPIs?
David Cummings on Startups 
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