Benchmarking Peers

The first step in benchmarking is to understand who your peers are or who you want to study and learn from. In determining whom to benchmark against, consider the following:

• Geographic location
• Areas of expertise
• Common affiliations
• Rankings
• Who you compete with for talent

Create a grid of benchmarking peers to gain insight and learn with whom you should compare yourself to when doing benchmarking.  The more categories you have, the more accurate your benchmarking grid will be.  Think outside the box.  Don't overlook nontraditional peers.  Keep in mind that those institutions at the top of your benchmarking grid may be more "aspirational" than "actual" peers.  (That's OK.)  Your grid of benchmarking peers should be updated constantly and is your first stop when considering the other three elements of the benchmarking toolkit.