KPIs usually live in a spreadsheet that someone filled in at the start of the year. Nobody looks at it until appraisal season, and by then half the numbers no longer matter. People do not own those KPIs. They are measured by them.

Tenellus puts KPIs where the conversation already happens: in the one-on-one. Each person has a small set of KPIs, a target for each, and the latest value sitting next to their commitments. Every review asks the same question of both: are we on track, and if not, what will we change?

Start from a library, then make it yours

Choosing good KPIs is hard, so Tenellus ships with ready-made sets for the roles most small teams have. Pick a role, keep the KPIs that fit, adjust the targets and add your own.

  • Software developers: commitments delivered, cycle time, change failure rate, review turnaround and escaped defects.
  • Product managers: feature adoption, outcome delivery, customer conversations, time to decision and activation rate.
  • Project managers: milestones on schedule, budget variance, risks owned, status updates on time and unplanned scope.
  • Sales representatives, sales managers and account managers: pipeline, forecast accuracy, renewals and net revenue retention.
  • Designers, customer support, marketing and team leads, each with their own set.
A developer’s KPIs, started from the library and edited by their manager. See the full KPI library.

Rules we built in

  • Three to five KPIs per person. More than that and none of them get attention.
  • Outcomes over activity. There is no KPI for hours online or lines of code, and there never will be.
  • A number is never shown on its own. Every KPI sits next to written context from the review, so a dip can be explained rather than punished.
  • The person can see and update their own KPIs. Ownership starts with visibility.

KPIs and commitments work together

A KPI tells you where things are heading. A commitment is what someone will do about it in the next two weeks. When review turnaround slips, the commitment might be to clear the review queue every morning. When win rate drops, it might be to sit in on two calls with a senior colleague. Tenellus links the two, so every number has a plan attached.

The KPI library is included in every plan. Custom KPIs and targets are part of the Team plan.