Don't Set Metrics For Each Team Member
“I need to create metrics for my team members,” she said. “So I can review them every week and make sure they’re doing their jobs.”
“Maybe,” I said. “But are you sure you need to look at all that data every week? That sounds like a lot of work. What if we set up some simple business KPIs instead?”
“Tell me more.”
What is the difference between success metrics and KPIs?
The short version is:
Success metrics are specific numbers that tell you how someone is doing with the execution of their work.
For example, email open rates can tell you how well a copywriter is writing subject lines, and how informative, engaging, or useful people find the content.
Important things to know, right?
Well, yes. But who needs to know them?
Is it you?
Or is it the copywriter?
The answer depends on whose job it is to fix the result when the numbers are not where they should be.
If improving email open rates is the copywriter’s responsibility, then the copywriter needs to review those numbers. They should look at open rates, click-through rates, and other success metrics each week, then use them to decide what to change.
But you, as the leader of the business, do not necessarily need to be involved in that process.
Your job is to pay attention to the business KPIs.
KPIs are the core set of numbers that tell you, at a glance, how well the business and team are performing overall.
That distinction matters because leaders often create more work for themselves by tracking every available metric. They end up reviewing reports, analyzing details, and trying to solve problems that belong to someone else’s role.
The result is a business where every number routes back to the founder.
Which numbers should a business leader track?
One useful business KPI is the number of leads generated in a given week.
You will want to know how that number is doing because leads are not usually the responsibility of one person. Lead generation is the result of many factors working together:
- Copy
- Messaging
- Distribution
- Timing
- World events
- Time of year
- The offer itself
You track the KPI because it gives you a view across the business.
If the KPI is on track, great. You do not need to dig deeper. You do not need to review every detail, dive into every number, or spend hours analyzing reports.
And if a KPI is not where it should be?
That is when you involve the team.
How should leaders respond when a KPI is off track?
The conversation can be simple:
- “I noticed our leads have been trending down for the past few weeks.”
- “What are you seeing in your individual metrics that might explain this?”
- “What are you already doing to create improvement?”
- “What else could we collectively do to help?”
- “What do you need from me, or from each other, to make that happen?”
Do you see how this works?
You are looking at the result and coordinating the team’s response. You are not getting into the weeds to solve the problem yourself. You are not tracking every detail or coming up with every solution.
That is the difference between leadership and task-level management.
It takes much less time than reviewing every metric yourself, interpreting every change, and creating a plan for everyone else.
How much time should KPI review take?
A useful KPI process does not need to take over your week.
With our clients, we use a simple process that fits into one hour:
- 15 minutes for a Momentum Review, where you review the KPIs.
- 45 minutes for a Team Tactical, where the team collaborates on the response.
That's it.
You spend one focused hour reviewing the business and helping the team work on the right problem. Then you get back to the parts of the business you actually enjoy.
The goal is not to know every number.
The goal is to know which numbers require your attention, and which numbers belong to the person responsible for improving them.
When leaders track every success metric, they often end up back in the weeds. When they focus on the right KPIs, they can see what is happening across the business without taking over everyone else’s work.
That is how you stay informed without becoming the bottleneck.