In this article we'll go over how Parent Metrics roll up data from Child Metrics using Sum or Average.
When using Cascading Metrics in Metronome, Parent Metrics allow you to consolidate and visualize performance across multiple child Metrics. These child Metrics can be assigned to individuals or teams, enabling distributed ownership while still rolling up into a single view.
Roll-Up Options for Parent Metrics
There are two ways a Parent Metric can calculate its values based on its Child Metrics:
1. Summation (Default)
This is the default roll-up type for cascading Metrics. It works by adding the Actuals and Targets from all child Metrics together.
Use Summation when your parent Metric represents a total count—such as total revenue or number of clients across multiple team members.
Example:
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Child A: 10 new clients
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Child B: 8 new clients
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Parent Metric (Sum): 18 new clients
2. Average
This roll-up type calculates the average of the Actuals and Targets from the child Metrics.
Use Average when you're measuring performance consistency across a group, like customer satisfaction or task completion rate.
Example:
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Child A: 90% customer satisfaction
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Child B: 80% customer satisfaction
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Parent Metric (Average): 85%
How to Change the Roll-Up Type
When setting up the Parent Metric, or after it's been created, you can choose the roll-up method:
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Click on the Parent Metric (it will highlight green).
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In the right-hand properties panel, scroll down to the Roll-Up Type section.
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Select either Sum or Average from the dropdown.
💡 Note: Roll-up types affect both how progress is calculated and how targets are displayed on the Parent Metric, so choose the method that best fits your measurement goals.