Measures are quantitative data points that can be compared with other quantities to provide context and meaning. Measures are dependent on dimensions for their usefulness and must be used alongside other measurements to provide valuable insights.
Measures are key indicators of a company’s health and can help identify opportunities for growth and success. Learn how to select the right metrics for your business and use them to track your progress.
What is a Measure?
A measure is the specific quantity of something. It’s a number that can be compared to a standard—whether it’s a metric or some other established unit.
A measuring instrument is a tool used in geometry, technical drawing and carpentry to record measurements of lengths, distances, temperatures and so on. It can be a ruler, tape measure or caliper.
A measurement can also be a qualitative judgement of an amount or quality, made by comparison to some other standard: her sacrifices were a large measure of her love. A metric is a quantifiable measurement used to track and assess business processes and performance. It’s a set of metrics that make up your KPIs (key performance indicators) or metrics. Both metrics and measures rely on and are derived from the same fundamental measurements. They’re just different perspectives on the same data. Metrics are a higher level view, while measures are more of the building blocks.
What are the Differences Between Metrics and Measures?
Many businesses are unclear about the distinction between metrics and measures. This confusion can have significant repercussions. For example, if you were tracking the error rate of a certain production process last year and got it down to a manageable level, this does not mean that you have accomplished your KPI for improving customer satisfaction.
Instead, you will need to identify a different goal to improve your business processes in the future. This can only be done by properly leveraging the right metrics and measures.
A metric is a classification of raw data like a number or value. Examples of measurements include the products sold, website visitors and calls made in a given period, or values representing operational aspects such as operating temperature, speed or cycles. Measurements are typically based on standardized procedures, calculation methods or systems and can be taken statically (like current cash flow) or dynamically. A metric can be defined as the size of a set, such as the outer Lebesgue measure of a set by covering it with a family of disjoint open intervals, adding their lengths and taking the infimum of those families.
How Do I Select the Right Measures and Metrics for my Business?
The right metrics for your business will vary according to the type of business you operate. The key is to select metrics that align with your strategic goals and provide context for performance trends.
Measures take raw, often overwhelming piles of facts and transform them into clear, digestible insights that help you understand what’s really going on in your business. If facts are the individual notes of a data orchestra, measures are the symphony they play together to reveal the story behind your data.
The most important metric for your success this year may be very different than the one that was most significant last year. This is why evaluating metrics and measurements is an ongoing process. It’s also why it is so important to have a method for prioritizing what metrics you should implement in your business. This will ensure you don’t end up with a set of metrics that aren’t actually helping you achieve your business goals.
How Do I Implement Measures and Metrics in My Business?
Implementing metrics and KPIs into your business requires the support of all departments, especially those associated with tracking them. Insights gained from metrics should fuel change – whether that means adjusting strategies, processes, or resource allocation.
The right metrics should be clear and concise, making it easy for all team members to understand. They should also be standardized, providing the same answer no matter who calculates them. Lastly, they should be realistic and achievable, with time frames set to keep everyone on track.
Many companies go to the trouble of designing metrics and buying expensive tools, only to never use them. This is usually because they set too many metrics. It’s better to implement five meaningful metrics than 100 that you won’t use. Also, metrics should be reviewed on a regular basis to ensure that they are still relevant. This way, if you notice that one of your metrics has taken a dive, it can be easily pinpointed and addressed.