A metric is a broad term for anything which we decide to measure whereas a KPI is a subset of the population of possible metrics, namely specific important ones we want to measure and track to understand performance.
A simple example, average number of passengers per trip in a car and miles per gallon are both metrics, but the latter would be a KPI if we wanted to monitor fuel efficiency over time.
in most of the cases, they are used interchangeably. Generally, Metric is an index, indicator or formula such as Number of hours divided by No. of products. KPIs are those metrics have a significant meaning for your own purposes. They can be used as a KEY indicator showing your current status. You may need several Metrics to calculate a KPI. Metrics refer to details whereas KPIs are more holistic and broader.
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1 reply by SHADAV MOHAMMAD ANSARI
Feb 06, 2019 12:26 AM
SHADAV MOHAMMAD ANSARI
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Well Noted . Abolfazi
Saving Changes...
Thomas WalentaGlobal Project Economy ExpertHackenheim, Germany
Building on Kiron's reply:
we can and do measure anything: team morale, quality, beauty, distance between stars, max speed of a car, temperature - for a purpose or not
- with KPIs, we measure performance towards objectives
- with other metrics, we measure out of curiosity, for research, to learn or to establish thresholds
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2 replies by ANTONIS APERGIS and SHADAV MOHAMMAD ANSARI
Feb 06, 2019 12:24 AM
SHADAV MOHAMMAD ANSARI
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Bang On Thomas. I also understand it in same way as you explained it. Thanks.
Jun 15, 2021 12:28 PM
ANTONIS APERGIS
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I fully agree with Thomas.
Actually, we use KPIs to decide to which factor we have to pay attention so as to achieve our goals, improve the process and the quality of organizations' operation.
Kiron-
Noted with thanks. Well Explained with good example. You always present to clear my doubts. I really mean it.
Thanks once again. Saving Changes...
I agree with Kiron and will add to it a bit as it directly relates to your Service Delivery KPI question.
Any time you are developing a solution to something, you should ask, “What are the critical attributes that make a good solution.” Those are Key Performance Attributes or KPAs. They may be very easy to define such as fuel efficiency, or more difficult such as employee satisfaction, educational quality, or “WOW factor”. KPIs are the small subset of metrics used to try and measure the KPAs.
While you can directly measure fuel consumption, you can’t directly measure employee satisfaction, so you may need a proxy measure such as employee turnover or days of missed work. Because they are not directly measuring “satisfaction” for example, they are not true Technical Performance Measures (TPMs) but a proxy *indicator* for the quality you wish to evaluate. Admission rate to college could be an indicator for educational quality, and people stopping at a trade show booth could be an indicator for “WOW factor”.
It is the difference between data and performance, a measure vs an indicator, a data point in time vs tracked over time, tactical vs strategy and static vs action.
Building on Kiron's reply:
we can and do measure anything: team morale, quality, beauty, distance between stars, max speed of a car, temperature - for a purpose or not
- with KPIs, we measure performance towards objectives
- with other metrics, we measure out of curiosity, for research, to learn or to establish thresholds
Bang On Thomas. I also understand it in same way as you explained it. Thanks. Saving Changes...
It is the difference between data and performance, a measure vs an indicator, a data point in time vs tracked over time, tactical vs strategy and static vs action.
I agree with Kiron and will add to it a bit as it directly relates to your Service Delivery KPI question.
Any time you are developing a solution to something, you should ask, “What are the critical attributes that make a good solution.” Those are Key Performance Attributes or KPAs. They may be very easy to define such as fuel efficiency, or more difficult such as employee satisfaction, educational quality, or “WOW factor”. KPIs are the small subset of metrics used to try and measure the KPAs.
While you can directly measure fuel consumption, you can’t directly measure employee satisfaction, so you may need a proxy measure such as employee turnover or days of missed work. Because they are not directly measuring “satisfaction” for example, they are not true Technical Performance Measures (TPMs) but a proxy *indicator* for the quality you wish to evaluate. Admission rate to college could be an indicator for educational quality, and people stopping at a trade show booth could be an indicator for “WOW factor”.
