Metrics Management is a management tool designed for organizations that want a comprehensive view of their performance, whether that performance be financial indicators, strategic objectives, customer satisfaction, or other business objectives. A successful Metrics Management implementation is one that measures activities that contribute to achieving organizational objectives.

Metrics Management does more than simply measure the number of sales or calls to customer service. Metrics Management can categorize the types of sales or calls to customer service to provide visibility into what is succeeding and what issues need to be addressed. An effective management team wants to know more than what percentage of customers are calling. Managers cannot take the time to inspect the individual call tracking files. Instead, they need to know how these calls can be categorized and analyzed.

For example, suppose a government agency, such as the National Park Service, implements Metrics Management to track the number of general inquiries and complaints. During implementation, the system specialist can set up the program to go beyond reporting the number of general inquiries or complaints. Metrics Management can be set up to track how many people call to ask about available amenities, fees, schedules, and reservations. In addition, Metrics Management can track the number of customers and details about those customers who lodge complaints about fees being too high, trail accessibility, and park hours. These inquires can then be grouped and compared, providing managers with detailed information that empowers them to make decisions based on data about which problems are most critical, which problems affect the largest number of customers, which problems need to be addressed urgently, and which ones fall into the nice‑to‑have category.

A performance management system focuses on measuring activities that contribute to achieving organizational objectives, not just things that are easy to measure. Remember that “What gets measured gets done.” An effective and properly implemented system can help to promote focus and alignment within the organization, increase communication, and help redefine a forward-looking vision.