AMA: Atlassian Director of Product Management, Paresh Vakhariya on Product Management KPIs

* In terms of KPI's shared between product and engineering, I would say "Effective Resource Utilization" can be missed primarily because it can be hard to track and measure across projects/teams. * "Internal team satisfaction" is another one that PM's may not include but this is an extremely important metric that provides a good idea of the health of the team and organization. This should not be missed.

* Congratulations to you! There are a lot of ways you can pave the path for KPI's at your company as the first hire * The KPI's should be directly based on the business outcome you plan to achieve. * Even before that though, I would highly recommend having a solid Product Vision and Strategy in place for your company/product * Who are your customers? What is the benefit you are trying to provide them? * After that you can use the AARRR (Acquisition, Activation, Retention, Revenue, Referral) framework to understand the best metrics you can choose to align with this outcome/goal * Picking a certain number of KPI's is also an art. I would recommend sticking to 2, max 3 that you really feel give you a good sense of the business and how impactful it is for the end user/customer * Generally PM's would own Company, Business, Acquisition, User Engagement and User Satisfaction KPI's. Examples are: MRR, Churn rate, Number of users, DAU/WAU/MAU, Number of sessions, Session duration, Churn rate, NPS or CSAT etc.

* Just like Shared KPI's between Engineering and Product Management, a similar shared KPI framework between Product Management and Marketing is a great way to build high quality products that bring customer delight and high ROI. This also builds camaraderie and encourages teamwork towards a common goal between these teams. * Generally PM's would own Company, Business, Acquisition, User Engagement and User Satisfaction KPI's. Examples are: MRR, Churn rate, Number of users, DAU/WAU/MAU, Number of sessions, Session duration, Churn rate, NPS or CSAT etc. * While Marketing may own Leads generated, Leads conversion to customer, CAC, LTV, Ad spend and Conversion for various channels being used. * Although the KPI's would be distinct, certain KPI's like LTV, conversion to customer, user onboarding, retention rate and NPS/CSAT can be shared between the 2 functions. It really depends on the case and business needs * As for launch metrics, they could be pre-launch sign-ups, K-factor, social media engagement, user signups/conversion, revenue and retention. In my opinion, the last 3 signups/conversion, revenue and retention can be shared while others can be owned by marketing. This is in addition to the business and engagement metrics that are probably solely owned by PM's

* Shared KPI's between engineering and Product Management is a great way to build high quality, scalable products that are delivered on-time that bring customer delight. This also builds camaraderie and encourages teamwork towards a common goal. * There are different ways of achieving this. e.g. PM's and Engineering can own certain KPI's. While both teams can also individually own their own KPI's. Not all have to be shared * Generally PM's would own Company, Business, Acquisition, User Engagement and User Satisfaction KPI's. Examples are: MRR, Churn rate, Number of users, DAU/WAU/MAU, Number of sessions, Session duration, Churn rate, NPS or CSAT etc. * While Engineering may own Product Development and Product Quality KPI's. Examples are: On-time delivery, Cost incurred, Team velocity, Defect rate and Support ticket count etc. * So although they are distinct, some common KPI's can be devised to ensure the customer delivery and quality goals are met. It really depends upon specific needs of the business and outcomes desired. Examples are: On-time delivery, Scalability and Reliability of systems, Support ticket count and User engagement/satisfaction metrics like Sessions, NPS/CSAT. * The one example of a KPI product teams often miss is: Cohort Retention rate. It is not only important to track overall retention but also retention as it pertains to specific cohorts of customers you are interested in. Not doing this might give a skewed view of your business. * In terms of KPI's shared between product and engineering, I would say "Effective Resource Utilization" can be missed primarily because it can be hard to track and measure across projects/teams.

Here is a rough process I would follow but it really varies a lot depending upon each business: * Understand Company Objectives and Goals * Have a clear Product Vision and Strategy that aligns with these goals/objectives * Create higher level OKR's that can map to KPI's * Determine the top KPI's the company is interested in driving/moving. Examples are: Business Performance KPIs: Customer counts, Customer / user acquisition, Retention Rate, Churn Rate, Revenue etc. * Make a prioritized list of these KPI's you can measure. Example Revenue would map to MRR and so on * Pick top 1-2 KPI's that you will meaningfully impact * Ensure they are measurable in the given timeframe * The roadmaps that PM's own should be aligned to these OKR's and KPI's * Report on progress regularly

Some of the worst KPI's in my opinion are: * KPI's that cannot be measured correctly * KPI's that do not give a sense for the goal you are tracking. You can use the AARRR (Acquisition, Activation, Retention, Revenue, Referral) framework to understand the best metrics you can choose to align with your outcome/goal. * KPI's that are not achievable in a desired timeframe. Yes there could be exceptions here but generally these are not the best ones in my opinion. * Any KPI's that do not really tell you the health of the business unless a holistic picture is presented. e.g. number of app installs is not that meaningful without retention and engagement metrics