For the company to be competitive in the market, it is important that all departments work in alignment to increase productivity and improve performance. Among the tools that the company can use to direct this improvement process are performance indicators — or KPIs. Do you know how to define them for the IT sector?
In this post, we will tell you how to set goals to define your KPIs, as well as the main indicators used by IT teams. Want to know what they are? Keep reading!
WHAT ARE PERFORMANCE INDICATORS?
KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) or key performance indicators are important tools that allow monitoring the level of success of a company's or a certain department's processes.
They allow analyzing the situation of a sector and even of the company in an objective way, based on data that show whether the objectives have been achieved or not. KPIs broaden the view of managers, make reports consistent and allow them to identify whether the company is on the right track to achieve its goals.
HOW TO DEFINE KPIS FOR THE IT SECTOR?
It is very important to define the performance indicators after an extensive discussion and the establishment of an agreement between managers and employees.
The manager needs to direct the team as to the points that must be improved, taking into account the competences of each member, the adequacy of the tasks to these characteristics and taking care of the formation of a team capable of running the project. However, employees also need to be heard.
It is their assessment that allows the formulation of viable objectives and indicators, the description of the conditions necessary for them to be met and the deadlines to which the team can realistically commit.
Once defined, the performance indicators must be ranked according to their order of priority. They must follow a logical path that leads to the solution of the shortest goals that, when added and synchronized, lead to the fulfillment of the overall business strategy.
PRECAUTIONS IN DEFINITION OF KPIS
The entire process of defining performance indicators must be careful. However, two aspects deserve a closer analysis, due to their importance for the fulfillment of an organization's strategic objectives:
1. SELECTION OF IRRELEVANT OBJECTIVES AND CRITERIA
When defining performance indicators for the sector, the manager and the team must make sure that they really contribute to achieving the strategic objectives of the organization.
This is important because, if they are not defined in this way, your IT department will have a team that works hard, achieves the proposed goals, but does not produce effective results for the company.
In this case, in a short time, your team can be seen as an additional cost to the organization, and not as an enhancer of performance and results.
2. SELECTION OF OBJECTIVES AND SUBJECTIVE CRITERIA
Beware of verbs like improve, contribute, improve… They can represent noble and interesting ideas, but in practice, your team will not know how to measure these results or even present them to your board and other sectors.
Work with hard data that can be measured. What is “improving customer service”? You need to translate this into numbers, such as “ensuring the first call problem resolution rate increases from 4 out of 10 to 7 out of 10”. The improvement needs to be measurable.
A good alternative is to practice some methodology. Let's suggest the SMART, but your team can choose another option. According to this concept, the establishment of goals is based on an acrostic in which each letter means a characteristic that it must have:
S - specific (specific)
M – measurable
A – attainable
R - relevant (relevant)
T – time-bound
WHAT INDICATORS SHOULD IT TEAM USE?
This is not a simple answer, as the choice of the most appropriate KPIs depends on the organization's activities and context. Therefore, a collaborative definition process is the best option to obtain relevant results.
However, let's talk about some of the main KPIs and explain their importance and then list other performance indicators that can be used in your department.
WHAT ARE THE MAIN INDICATORS FOR THE IT AREA?
FIRST CALL RESOLUTION RATE:
Indicates the rate of cases or problems resolved in the requester's first contact. In addition to promoting a good experience for the customer (internal or external), a high rate means a reduction in operating and rework costs, user satisfaction and the consequent increase in the chances of new business.
SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENT (SLA)
This indicator measures the level of service. It is a simple analysis that evaluates the volume of calls answered, as well as the time required to obtain an effective solution.
NUMBER OF SECURITY INCIDENTS
Currently, we know how much it is necessary for companies to take care of their own data and, especially, that of their customers. Therefore, this indicator must have a very low rate.
CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
In any line of business, customer satisfaction is paramount. This also applies to employees served internally. This assessment shows whether the IT team needs to reformulate its performance, change strategic points or make changes.
WHAT ABOUT OTHER INDICATORS?
Although we have explained each of the above indicators a little more extensively and their importance, the fact is that the IT team has a huge amount of tasks.
Therefore, according to the context of the company itself, it is important that the team and its manager define which are the most relevant points to serve that clientele and/or its internal public well. Following are some suggestions:
KPIS TO ASSESS INFRASTRUCTURE:
- number of failures in a given period (network failures, internet outages);
- service uptime;
- mean time between failures;
- mean time between repairs.
KPIS TO EVALUATE DEVELOPMENT:
- rate of versions released on time;
- bug rate for each release;
- time needed to fix bugs;
- working hours spent fixing bugs;
- division of the period worked (counting the hours used in each stage of a release: integration activities, support, event analysis, software corrections and improvements, etc.).
KPIS TO EVALUATE HELP DESK:
- average number of calls answered by attendant;
- average hours per call;
- rate (percentage) of calls completed within the SLA;
- number of calls to solve a problem (by the requester);
- average time to solve a problem;
- average cost per call;
- average idle time per attendant.
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