Leading and lagging indicators poster

A lagging indicator counts a result after it has happened: injuries, complaints, late orders. A leading indicator counts the activity or condition that comes before the result, so a team can act on it today: near misses reported, first-piece checks done, output against plan hour by hour. A good board pairs the two. This poster gives five such pairs across safety, quality, delivery, equipment and people.

Download the poster

The PNG is free to download now. The print-ready vector PDFs open after a short form, once.

Download PNG (300 dpi)2550 x 3300 px, prints at 8.5 x 11 in · 411 KB · no form

Free to print and share with your team. Enter your name and work email once to download.

Leading and lagging indicators poster — 24 x 36 in18 x 24 inA2A3LetterA4PNG 300 dpi

The words on the poster

Leading and lagging measures

Lagging tells you what happened. Leading tells you what is coming.

Lagging: injuries Leading: near misses reported, hazards fixed on time.
Lagging: customer complaints Leading: first-piece checks done, standards audited.
Lagging: late orders Leading: output against plan, hour by hour.
Lagging: breakdown hours Leading: planned maintenance and cleaning done on time.
Lagging: people leaving Leading: training plan done, ideas answered on time.

Manage the leading, report the lagging. A team can move a leading measure today. The result follows.

On the floor

How to use it

Putting the Leading and lagging indicators poster to work

1
Put it by the team board when choosing what to track.
2
For each lagging result on your board, check that at least one leading measure sits next to it.
3
Use it in a review: did the leading measures move before the lagging result did?
4
Pair it with the free manufacturing KPI dashboard template.

Where the poster goes and how to teach with it, in the order to try them.

Which size to print

24 x 36 in or A2: a main wall or team board, read from a few metres away.
18 x 24 in or A3: a station or notice board. The A3 file also fits 11 x 17 in paper.
Letter or A4: a clipboard, binder or handout, on any office printer.

Every PDF is vector, so it stays sharp at full size. Nothing runs to the edge of the page, so no bleed is needed.