Scorecards – The key to Business as Usual (BAU)

This can be a highly undervalued tool & it can sometimes feel hard to develop a good one. The reality is it can take months to get this right, but it’s worth it!

But even when you have nailed it, you will still want to review it every 90 days to make sure it is giving you data that you can use to make real business decisions.

So, what is a Scorecard & what is it used for?

In EOS our Rocks are the most critical objectives of a quarter. They generally support annual goals or fix processes and help us gain traction on our vision.

These are visited every week in the Level 10 Meeting & best practice says you should spend around 20% of your time working on these things that move the business forward.

The Scorecard, then, is the way of keeping track of Business as usual (BAU) – the stuff that keeps the doors open & the bills paid.

In EOS, we say that everyone should have at least one measurable to keep them on track with their day-to-day tasks. These measurables create the scorecard, or the scorecards create the measurables.

These should be forward-looking, activity-based numbers with weekly goals which lead to desired outcomes. Forward-looking metrics tell you if you’re on track to hit your monthly, quarterly, or annual goals.

The way that we develop Scorecards is to think about what numbers or measurables we want to achieve & that will help us understand if we are on track as well as identifying when we have an issue & they’re things that can be measured & reviewed weekly in our Level 10 Meeting.

They should be a mixture of leading & lagging indicators – i.e., the results of the work that we have done along with the leading activities that will deliver these results.

The easiest example that I can use is the sales measurables.

The revenue / sales created each week is a lagging indicator. Measuring the activities that lead to sales are leading indicators – i.e., coffee meetings had, proposals delivered etc.

Scorecards should exist at the leadership team level, to give the LT a finger on the pulse of the business & then in each of the departments & teams.

What are 3 common pitfalls?

1. Not knowing what to measure

Many businesses find it all too difficult to come up with things that they can measure & so dismiss it into the too-hard basket.

The best thing you can do as a team is just start measuring something.

Start by making a list of what you’d like to measure & then just start measuring what you can.

You’ll very quickly start to understand what scorecard measurables are key to making business decisions & working out how you can get that data each week.

2. Measuring data that you don’t use to make decisions

The purpose of a scorecard is to review weekly how things are going & catch things before it’s too late… Both issues & opportunities.

We need to be looking at what’s working & do more of it & resolve what’s not working, quickly.

We also need to use the data each week to hold people accountable.

So if you’re looking at data each week & not using it to make decisions, or you’re ignoring the fact that you’re off-track each week, then it’s time to review the scorecard and/or have the tough conversations.

Are you measuring the right things? Are they leading to the right outcomes? Do you have a data issue or a people issue?

3. Setting the bar too high

It might be, especially as the Visionary, that you have lofty goals for the sales team or customer service team, but remember that a Scorecard is designed to keep people focused each week towards the 90-day plan.

If you set the bar too high immediately, then the run of ‘red’ or ‘off-track’ data is likely to discourage the team. They might feel it’s impossible to ever achieve them.

So, why not agree on what is possible & allow the team to get some ‘greens’ or ‘on track’ before raising the bar.

It’s perfectly ok to change the target as you achieve it & use the psychology of winning & moving up each week. I like to encourage the team to agree when it should be moved up – is it after 2 greens or 3 greens? Motivate & Inspire is a better way to get the team on-board with achieving.

Finally, remember that you can & should review the Scorecard every 90-days:

• Are the measurables reflective of what is going on in the business & what you want to achieve?
• Are you using it to keep the team on-track?
• Are you recognising where there are issues that need to be solved?