Defining KPIs

Defining KPIs in Low-Data Environments: A BA’s Approach

One of the common challenges I’ve encountered as a business analyst is working with organizations that don’t have any formal performance metrics or key performance indicators (KPIs) in place. In such cases, I follow a structured approach rooted in BABOK principles to design meaningful, measurable indicators from the ground up using a step-by-step, stakeholder-driven method.

The first step involves aligning with business objectives—whether stated or inferred—to understand what success looks like. I then identify critical processes, pain points, or decision-making gaps that could benefit from performance tracking. From there, I work with stakeholders to translate goals into measurable indicators that are relevant, clearly defined, and realistically trackable with the resources available.

For example, in the Bakery Digital Transformation project, I helped define simple KPIs such as:

• % of daily inventory entries completed without correction

• Weekly expense total vs. budgeted forecast

• Time to complete daily tracking log (in minutes)

These metrics gave the owner and bookkeeper visibility into operations without adding overhead. Even with basic tools like Excel, I designed conditional formatting, auto-summary sheets, and visual charts to display KPI performance.

In the Construction Forms Digitization project, I also helped identify performance indicators despite limited baseline data. Sample KPIs included:

• • Time saved per form completed, measured by comparing pre- and post-digitization durations

  • % of FLHA forms submitted without errors or omissions

  • Number of admin hours saved monthly through reduced re-entry and corrections

The key is to define KPIs that are realistic, insightful, and easy to track—and to tie them to practical decision-making needs and opportunities for improvement.