KPI definitions and a review cadence that holds

• Different windows. One report counts deals closed in the month, another counts deals created in the month and closed by now.
• Different filters. One excludes internal accounts, test records, or renewals; the other does not.
• Different source fields. A stage name in the CRM, a status in the finance system, and a spreadsheet maintained by hand all claim to describe the same thing.
• Different timing. One refreshes overnight, the other on demand, so the two numbers describe different moments.
• Different authors. Two people build similar reports independently and neither is wrong, because neither is defined.

One page per measure, and one page in total if the set is small. Six fields are enough:

1. Name and question. What decision this measure informs. A metric that informs no decision is a candidate for retirement.
2. Formula. The arithmetic in plain words, including what is counted once and what is excluded.
3. Source. The system and field the number comes from, so a disagreement can be traced to a place rather than an opinion.
4. Window. The period it covers, and whether it is a point-in-time or period measure.
5. Owner. The person accountable for the number being right and for the response when it moves.
6. Threshold. What level triggers a conversation, and what the conversation is.

Three rhythms cover most operating needs, each with a different kind of decision:

• Short cycle. Operational measures: activity, stage movement, delivery status. Decisions are about the next week — who is doing what, and what is stuck.
• Monthly. Performance measures: conversion, margin, pipeline coverage, delivery cost. Decisions are about allocation and correction.
• Quarterly. Strategic measures: growth, retention, capability. Decisions are about priorities and what to stop.

The test of a cadence is whether the meeting ends with decisions and owners. A review that reads the dashboard aloud and moves on is a status meeting, and the measures will drift back to being decorative.

The example below is hypothetical and describes a pattern rather than a client account.

Measures accumulate. A metric that was useful during one phase keeps being reported after the decision it informed has been made. Retiring one is not a failure: it keeps the set small enough to be read, and it stops the monthly pack growing into something nobody reads closely. The definition sheet is the place to record what was retired and why, so it is not reintroduced by accident.

Definition sheets and review cadence are the substance of KPI and performance systems, one area inside the Operations & Systems capability. Where the measures come from CRM reporting, dashboard definitions are handled in the CRM consulting scopes.