16.5. Implementing Status List KPIs Manually

KPIs entered manually are not very useful. These indicators are simply items for which you enter the value, goal, and warning; they are not connected to any other source of data. Updating manual KPIs means editing the KPI itself, and because they do not represent any body of data, the action that they drive is not clear. However, these KPIs can be useful for quickly prototyping the KPI concept so that you can enlist support for a full KPI project. Also, they can be used in conjunction with other KPIs such as SharePoint list KPIs to capture an item that isn't data driven or is external to your organization. An example of this might be the number of people who participated in the last blood drive or the number of games the softball team won.

Ideally, manual KPIs would be items that do not change frequently so that you do not have to hire a whole crew of KPI-updaters to gather the data and enter the changes every day or every week. To create a manual KPI, follow these steps: