Setting objectives and targets

Good objectives are SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-based). Measurable means having an indicator. Target means having success criteria.

It is possible to consider 3 types of indicators:

• Effectiveness indicators;
• Efficiency indicators;
• Quantity indicators. 

For me, the most important are the effectiveness indicators, they measure if the purpose of the process is being met.

For example, for a company that has a strategic direction around innovation and has a process called “Develop new products” one can ask:

• What is the purpose of such process?
• Quickly develop new products that are market hits.

Effectiveness indicators will measure “Quickly” and “hits”. For example:

• Average time to market
• Revenue from new products
• Average price of new products 

Efficiency indicators are the classic QCD indicators:

• Quality
• Cost
• Deliver

For example, for a company that installs wireless networks for telecom companies, with a process called “Install network”, efficiency indicators can be:

• Number of daily nonconformities raised by the customer
• Actual network installation costs versus budgeted costs
• On-time delivery rate 

Quantity indicators give information about the need to manage resources accordingly. For example, number of incoming calls at a call center is a way of evaluating the need to contract more people to handle more calls without raising waiting time.

In this free webinar on demand I develop the challenge of working with relevant indicators - Measurement, analysis, and improvement according to ISO 9001:2015 - https://advisera.com/9001academy/webinar/measurement-analysis-and-improvement-according-to-iso-9001-2015-free-webinar/

The following material will provide you more information:

• How to define Key performance indicators for a QMS based ISO 9001: https://advisera.com/9001academy/24/define-key-performance-indicators-qms-based-iso-9001/-iso-9001/
• How to Write Good Quality Objectives - https://advisera.com/9001academy/knowledgebase/how-to-write-good-quality-objectives/
• Free online training ISO 9001:2015 Foundations Course – https://advisera.com/training/iso-9001-foundations-course/
• Discover ISO 9001:2015 Through Practical Examples - https://advisera.com/books/discover-iso-9001-2015-through-practical-examples/