As a business leader, you spend a lot of your time figuring out how to win. With good reason: The most crucial job of every executive is to align efforts at every level of the organization to deliver wins for the week, for the quarter, and for the year.

The people at the front end of the business—the salespeople, the customer service reps, the machine operators, warehouse staff, and IT specialists—work deep inside everyday business processes. They often have no idea if they are winning, or what the score is, let alone how their actions affect the company’s overall success.

Failure to make such connections can dramatically hinder the performance of the entire business. Without support from the front lines, no top-level plan has a chance. That’s why you need to have a structured process for communicating current performance in ways that empower everyone to strive for wins every day.

That process, like so much else today, begins with data.

The right data for the right job

We all love our metrics. We love to show off our progress. You may have performance boards displaying safety, quality, delivery, cost, and other key metrics all over your factory. But just reporting today’s status or progress isn’t enough; you have to make sure that the key performance indicators (KPIs) everyone is focusing on will drive future success.

 …