Project-based organizations are built on and driven by data. Profit, cost, customer churn, pipeline, percent complete, win-loss rates—all of these and countless others are a vital part of the day-to-day. In order to make the important decisions that guide the business into the future, modern organizations need to harness and utilize data.
It’s not enough to simply track this data, however; honing in on what metrics and KPIs are most valuable to your organization is what makes the difference between data overload and receiving actionable insights. As discussed in Unanet CEO Craig Halliday’s Inc. Magazine article “How to Find Metrics That Matter to Your Business,” organizations should learn how to strategically leverage the right data to drive the business forward:
Data should inform and galvanize, not confuse and paralyze. To get more of the former and less of the latter, my advice is to focus on a handful of high-level metrics that are simple, measurable and relevant to organizational objectives. Tune out the stuff that could be impactful but isn't actionable, as well as the stuff that's actionable but not impactful.
In the article, Halliday listed 5 of the big metrics SAAS businesses should keep an eye on:
- Customer experience metrics
- Employee engagement and experience metrics
- Annual recurring revenue
- Operating cash flow
- Community involvement
Further, the metrics that organizations focus on must be informed by real-time data. If the data isn’t real-time, executives are left guessing on if they can trust the numbers in front of them. This makes it much harder to make the right strategic decisions. Only with real-time analytics can government contracting, architecture & engineering, and construction organizations turn information into insight, drive operational efficiencies, and connect and empower their people.
