You may have heard of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). As a matter of fact, there’s a good chance that you use KPIs in your workplace to determine if your team or company is achieving its top goals. What many people don’t realize is that key performance indicators can also be useful in setting, managing, and achieving your personal and professional goals as well as helping you make the right decisions that will lead toward success. Below, we’ll explain what a KPI is and how it can help you with everyday goal setting and decision making.
What is a Key Performance Indicator (KPI)?
A key performance indicator is a measurable value that helps companies determine how effectively they are achieving their key business objectives. Once a business sets a target goal, they will then determine which KPIs they will use to measure success. The right KPI will depend on the industry, type of business, and the specific goals that the company has set forth. For instance, a blogger may use return website visits or subscribers as a KPI while a clothing store may use an increase in sales percentage or sales totals.
How KPIs Can Assist With Everyday Goal Setting & Decision Making
The key to effective goal setting is to develop your personal and professional goals much like you would goals for a business. A popular approach to business goal setting is the SMART method. With this approach to goal setting, you make sure that each of your goals is Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely. This helps ensure that your goals are concrete, concise, and attainable, but not too far off into the future that you will lose interest or focus.
It can often be hard to know when we have reached our goal or how successful we were in our attempt to work toward a goal. When it comes to the measurable part of SMART goals, you can use KPIs to measure your success. You may be thinking, “My goals have nothing to do with meeting sales quotes or driving traffic to a website. How can this approach work for me?” The answer is simple – your KPIs should make sense for whatever your goal is.
Here is an example of how this might work. Let’s say that your goal is to own your own business. This is a broad goal, so you There were no Copyscape matches found. will have to break it up into many smaller, more specific goals. Your first goal may be to meet other professionals in the industry so that you have a group of contacts that can answer questions and support you in your journey. This is a realistic goal that you can set a deadline for. But how do you measure success? Is meeting 100 people within the industry considered a success, or are you looking to build closer relationships?
Well, this will depend on your goal. If you are seeking a mentor who can help you better understand the ins and outs of starting your own business, you might determine success based on the quality of the relationships that you build with your contacts. Your KPI might be the number of meetings or interviews that you have with industry professionals instead of the number of professionals that you meet at a networking function.
Now that you know how to use KPIs to set, manage, and achieve your goals, you’ll be on the path to success in no time. Wouldn’t it be great if you had someone to help guide and support you along the way? The National Association of Professional Women (NAPW) gives hundreds of thousands of women across the U.S. the opportunity to network, learn, and take advantage of powerful resources and opportunities for professional growth. If you want to be a part of the largest network of women in the United States, join NAPW today and start building your network.
