KPIs
The numbers you steer by, next to the goals and the work.
Every KPI has a data owner and a reporting rhythm. A goal can be measured by a KPI, and a directive can have a limit. When a limit stops holding, the area's owners are told.
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Customers
38
Latest quarter
Target path 37 · goal 45 by year end
6.2 h
Latest month
Limit: at most 8 h
Finance
SEK 62.4m
Sum so far
+SEK 4.1m against the target path
41
Latest month
Limit: at least 30
Organisation
24
Rolling 12
Limit: at least 30
94%
Kalends' own number
+2 pp against last year
eNPS no longer holds
HR's owners were told this morning. The directive: Keep people engaged.
- Data owner and deputies
- Reporting as a commitment
- Target paths on goals
- Limits on directives
When the numbers live in a spreadsheet
When the KPIs are only updated before the board meeting
The numbers are gathered in a spreadsheet that somebody fills in the night before the meeting. Nobody is quite sure who owns the number, which goal it should measure or what happens when it moves the wrong way.
The sheet is filled in the night before
The numbers are chased by email, and last quarter's value is overwritten without anyone noticing.
In Kalends
Reporting is a recurring commitment with a reminder. A correction needs a reason, and the first value is kept.
The number has no owner
When NPS drops, nobody knows who should explain why or who brings in the next value.
In Kalends
Every KPI has a data owner and deputies, and shows on their page under People.
Nobody watches the limit
eNPS has been below 30 for two quarters before anyone in management notices.
In Kalends
The directive's limit shows Holds or Does not hold. When it turns, the area's owners are told.
Data owners and reporting
Every number has an owner and a rhythm
A KPI belongs to an area and has a data owner with deputies. Reporting is a recurring commitment, so the values come in without anyone chasing them.
- Report NPS
- One occurrence per period, assigned to the data owner and the deputies. It shows in My work, the calendar and the year wheel.
- Type, paste or upload
- Type the values into a grid, paste them from Excel or Google Sheets, or upload a file. You always see what changes before anything is saved.
- Corrections with a reason
- A reported value only changes with a reason, and the first value is kept. A period you skip gets a reason too and never shows as zero.
A value typed in, pasted or reported on the phone answers the reporting for its period, wherever it is entered.
Where the values come from
Values are typed in, calculated or come from Kalends
A KPI is a metric its area has marked as key. Where the values come from is chosen when the metric is created.
Entered
Someone reports a value each period
Somebody reports a value each period: the data owner, a deputy or the area's owners.
Calculated
A formula of other metrics
A formula of other metrics, such as revenue per employee. The values are worked out again when any metric in the formula changes.
From Kalends
An area's on-time rate or overdue work
On-time rate and Overdue now are worked out every night from the area's commitments. Nobody has to report them.
A metric becomes a KPI when its area marks it as key. The others stay as supporting numbers and can be used in formulas, goals and directives.
Goals measured by a KPI
A goal can read its value straight from a KPI
A measurable result can be measured by a KPI, such as NPS from 31 to 45. The starting value and the current one are read from the KPI, so nobody types the number in twice.
- The target path spreads the change
- Spread the year's change over the financial quarters. Each quarter is read against the path's level when the quarter ends.
- The gap is a number
- When a goal is 2 below the target path, it says exactly that, never as a colour. The owner judges how it is going at the check-in.
- The projection is a number too
- Once two quarters have ended, Kalends projects the year from how it has gone so far against the target path.
- Nothing adds up the cascade
- A quarter goal supporting the yearly goal reads its slice of the target path, from 31 to 37. Nothing is written back to the yearly goal.
Directive limits
Every limit shows whether it holds, and the owners are told when it turns
A directive can be measured by a KPI and a condition, such as eNPS at least 30 on rolling 12. It shows Holds, Does not hold or Too little data, and how often the limit has held.
The limit sits on the directive
The KPI itself has no goals or limits. Two directives can hold the same number to different standards.
A notice when it turns
The area's owners are told once, when the limit stops holding or starts holding again. Nothing escalates on its own.
A goal that brings it back
From the notice, the owner can create a goal under the directive, Restore eNPS, measured by the same KPI.
Where the work already is
KPIs sit next to the goals and commitments they belong with
A KPI has its own page, but it also shows where you plan and follow up the work: on the timeline, on the year wheel, in the organisation's structure, on people's pages and on the phone.
The timeline
Reporting becomes the KPI's lane, with each reported value at its dot. A goal measured by a KPI shows the number on its bar.
The year wheel
The outer ring can follow a KPI month by month. A month without a value is hatched and never drawn as zero.
Organisation › Structure
The KPIs filter shows each area's KPIs in the tree. Drag a KPI onto a directive to measure the directive by it.
People
A person's page shows the KPIs they keep as data owner or deputy, and how the reporting has gone.
The phone
Read the KPIs on the phone and report a value when it is due, in the same form as the reporting commitment.
The management meeting
The same numbers in the meeting, the printout and the deck
A KPI board gathers the KPIs you follow together and reads them over one period. The period review shows the year's KPIs and can be printed or downloaded as Excel and as PowerPoint.
- Each KPI is read against its own goal or its own limit, so one board can mix both.
- Everyone sees only the KPIs they may read, on the board, in the printout and in the deck.
- The deck's charts are drawn with PowerPoint's own shapes, so they can be restyled.
Where the line is
Not a BI tool, but the few numbers leadership steers by
Kalends does not pull data from your systems or build reports to drill into. It holds the KPIs leadership follows, next to the people who own them, the goals they measure and the work that should move them.
Kalends does
- Keep the KPIs leadership steers by, with data owners and reporting.
- Read each KPI against the goal it measures or the limit it should hold.
- Take in values typed in, pasted or uploaded from Excel and CSV.
Kalends does not
- Pull data from ERP systems, CRMs or data warehouses.
- Build reports to drill into or analyse freely.
- Add goals up the cascade or escalate anything on its own.
Common questions
Common questions about KPIs in Kalends
Can't find the answer?
How do the numbers get into Kalends?
The data owner types them in, pastes them from Excel or Google Sheets, or uploads a file. A calculated KPI is worked out from others, and Kalends' own numbers are worked out every night. With your organisation's own AI key, Kalends can also read the values from a report, and you choose which ones to add.
Is Kalends a BI tool?
No. Kalends does not pull data from other systems and has no reports to drill into. It is where the KPIs leadership steers by live, with an owner, a goal or a limit, and the work that should move them.
What happens when a KPI moves the wrong way?
If a directive is measured by the KPI and its limit stops holding, the area's owners get a notice, once. Then a person decides what to do, such as creating a goal that brings it back. Kalends escalates nothing on its own.
Who sees a sensitive KPI, such as sick leave?
Only the owners of the area and the areas above it, the data owner, the deputies and administrators. A sensitive KPI cannot measure a goal, and it is never shown to Ask Kalends or to AI tools connected over MCP.
Does it cost anything to let the board read the KPIs?
No. Watch-only members are free and unlimited on every plan. They see shared KPI boards and the KPIs they may read, but report no values.
Which files can we upload?
Excel files in .xlsx format and CSV files of up to 5 MB. Kalends recognises whether the periods run down a column or across a row, and suggests which KPI each column belongs to. A file in the older .xls format needs to be saved as .xlsx first.
More about Kalends
Start with one number
Start with one KPI and the person who owns it
Add one of your KPIs, give it a data owner and connect it to the goal it should measure. Try Kalends free for 30 days. No card needed.
30 days free · Introductory price until year-end · Watch-only members always free