The OGSM Measures column does two jobs at once — and most teams only see one of them.
The Measures column holds two fundamentally different types of content: Dashboard Measures (KPIs that tell you whether your strategy is working) and Action Plan Measures (specific initiatives with owners and deadlines that will make it work). Most teams treat the column as a single unified list and end up with a document that is neither a useful dashboard nor a credible action plan. Separating the two is the single clearest way to make your Measures column actually useful.
This article explains both measure types in detail, shows you what each looks like in practice, and gives you a clear test for which type belongs where in your Measures column.
OGSM Measures Explained: What Is the Measures Column Actually For?
If you’ve read a standard OGSM explanation, you’ve probably seen the Measures column described as “how you’ll know you’re succeeding.” That’s true, but incomplete. In practice, the column carries two fundamentally different types of information — and they serve different masters.
One type answers: Is our strategy working?
The other answers: What are we doing to make it work?
These are not the same question. Conflating them is how an OGSM ends up as a project plan dressed up as a strategy.
What Are Dashboard Measures?
Dashboard Measures are the KPIs that track whether a Strategy is delivering results. They’re lagging or leading indicators — numbers you monitor regularly to diagnose health, not manage tasks.
What they look like:
- Monthly recurring revenue (MRR) growth: +8% quarter-on-quarter
- Customer retention rate: ≥ 87%
- Net Promoter Score: ≥ 42 (tracked monthly)
- Time to hire: ≤ 21 days
These measures exist to answer one question: is the Strategy producing the outcome we predicted? They’re visible on a dashboard, reviewed in monthly or quarterly business reviews, and owned by whoever is accountable for the Strategy.
Dashboard Measures should be outcome-oriented, quantified, and time-bound. If a measure can’t be plotted on a trend line over time, it probably isn’t a Dashboard Measure.
The review cadence for Dashboard Measures aligns with your strategic review rhythm — typically monthly for fast-moving strategies, quarterly for longer-horizon objectives. For more on building that rhythm, see our guide to OGSM review cadence.
What Are Action Plan Measures?
Action Plan Measures are the specific initiatives, workstreams, and milestones that will cause the strategy to succeed. They’re not metrics — they’re commitments.
What they look like:
- Launch new onboarding email sequence — Owner: Head of CX — Due: 30 June
- Complete competitive pricing review — Owner: Commercial Director — Due: 15 May
- Pilot referral programme in 3 accounts — Owner: Sales Lead — Due: Q3
Action Plan Measures carry three essential components: what is being done, who owns it, and by when. Without all three, it’s a wish, not a measure.
These are reviewed in operational rhythm — weekly or fortnightly in execution meetings. They’re not strategic indicators; they’re the levers you’re pulling to move the strategic indicators.
What’s the Difference Between Dashboard and Action Plan Measures?
| Dashboard Measures | Action Plan Measures | |
|---|---|---|
| What it tracks | Outcome / health of the strategy | Activities / execution progress |
| Who owns it | Strategy owner | Initiative lead |
| Review cadence | Monthly / quarterly | Weekly / fortnightly |
| Format | Number + target + trend | Task + owner + deadline |
| Retail example | Like-for-like sales growth ≥ 5% | Launch loyalty card pilot — Head of Retail — Q2 |
| SaaS example | Logo churn rate ≤ 1.5% / month | Redesign in-app onboarding — Product Lead — May |
| Services example | Client satisfaction score ≥ 4.2/5 | Roll out quarterly account reviews — CS Director — Q1 |
The key distinction: Dashboard Measures tell you how you’re doing. Action Plan Measures tell you what you’re doing. Both belong in the Measures column, but they should never be confused with each other.
What’s the Most Common Mistake Teams Make with Measures?
Here’s what I see most often when I audit an OGSM: the Measures column is filled entirely with activities.
“Run leadership training programme.”
“Implement new CRM.”
“Review supplier contracts.”
These aren’t measures. They’re tasks. And when the entire Measures column looks like this, the OGSM has lost its strategic function. You can tick every box and still have no idea whether your strategy is working.
The underlying cause is usually one of two things: the team found Dashboard Measures hard to define (it requires knowing what “success” actually looks like, which is uncomfortable), or they copied Action Plan items into the Measures column without adding the corresponding KPIs.
The result is an OGSM that answers what are we doing but never asks is it working. That’s a project plan. A strategy document needs both.
This connects directly to the most common pattern of OGSM failure. If you’re diagnosing a broader OGSM that feels off, the full OGSM guide covers the framework end-to-end and explains how each column should relate to the others.
How Do You Tell Dashboard Measures from Action Plan Measures?
If you’re staring at your Measures column and not sure what you’ve got, run each entry through these three questions:
1. Can you plot it on a graph over time?
If yes, it’s probably a Dashboard Measure. If not — if it’s an event that happens once — it’s an Action Plan Measure.
2. Does it have a named owner and a deadline?
If it has both, it’s an Action Plan Measure. If it’s tracked at team level without a single accountable person, it’s likely a Dashboard Measure.
3. Does it tell you if the strategy is working — or just that someone is working on it?
This is the most important question. A Dashboard Measure tells you about outcomes. An Action Plan Measure tells you about activity. Both are necessary. Neither substitutes for the other.
For a deeper look at how Measures relate to Goals in the framework, the OGSM Goals vs Measures explainer covers the structural logic in full.
How Do You Fix Your Measures Column Without Starting Over?
If your existing OGSM is live and you want to fix the Measures column without rebuilding from scratch, here’s the simplest approach:
- Separate the two types. Create two sections within the Measures column: one for Dashboard Measures (KPIs), one for Action Plan (initiatives). Even just labelling them helps.
- Check every Dashboard Measure for a number, unit, and timeframe. “Improve retention” is not a measure. “Retention rate ≥ 88% by Q4” is.
- Check every Action Plan item for an owner and a deadline. If either is missing, it’s incomplete. No owner means no accountability. No deadline means no urgency.
This audit takes less than an hour for most OGSMs and tends to surface uncomfortable conversations that were previously hidden inside vague language — which is exactly the point.
For a complete list of what good Measures look like across different types of organisations, the OGSM Measures examples article covers retail, SaaS, professional services, and public sector in detail.
Why Does Getting This Distinction Right Actually Matter?
The OGSM framework works because it forces alignment between intent and action. The Objective captures where you’re going. The Goal quantifies it. The Strategies define how you’ll compete to get there. The Measures column — when it works — shows both whether the strategies are producing results and what the team is doing to execute them.
When the column collapses into a flat task list, that connection breaks. You lose the feedback loop that makes the OGSM useful as a management tool, not just a planning artifact.
Get both types of Measures right, and your OGSM becomes something you actually want to open at the start of every review meeting.
Rock on.