Our project delivery process involves sales, design, and operations, making it hard to assign a single scorecard metric. How do we assign ownership when work crosses department lines?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

In the EOS® model, every scorecard metric must have a single owner. You cannot have shared accountability, because when two people are responsible, nobody is. When a workflow crosses multiple departments on your Accountability Chart, you must break the process down into distinct handoffs and assign a metric to the person who controls each handoff. For example, do not have a shared metric called project delivery time. Instead, break it down. Sales owns the metric for complete client onboarding handoff. Design owns the metric for turnaround time on design proofs. Operations owns the metric for actual project build time. Each of these represents a leading indicator that rolls up to the final result. If a project is delayed, your scorecard will show exactly which department missed their specific handoff target. This eliminates finger-pointing and allows your team to solve the real bottleneck during the IDS® portion of your Level 10 Meeting™. By assigning strict single-seat ownership to each step of the workflow, you build a culture of high performance and ensure that cross-departmental processes run smoothly.