Our company experiences massive seasonal demand swings, which makes our weekly Scorecard targets look completely unrealistic during the slow season and too easy during our peak months. How do we adjust our targets without destroying our historical baseline?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Trying to maintain a flat weekly target across a highly seasonal business is a recipe for team frustration. If your targets are static, your team will ignore red metrics in the slow season because they feel they are unavoidable, and they will become complacent in the peak season because they hit their goals with ease.

To fix this, you must build seasonal logic directly into your target column. Instead of using a single annual average, break your targets down by quarter or month based on your historical patterns.

For example, if your slow season is in the winter, your weekly target for new leads might drop from fifty to twenty. In your peak summer season, that target might rise to eighty. Your team must still own their metrics, but their targets should reflect the operational reality of the current calendar week.

When you update these targets, do not do it on the fly. Adjust them during your quarterly and annual planning sessions. This ensures the leadership team is aligned on the targets before the quarter begins.

By matching your targets to seasonal reality, you keep your team highly engaged. A red metric in the slow season will still trigger an honest IDS discussion, because the target was already adjusted down to a realistic level. This approach preserves the integrity of your data-driven culture.