We are ready to cascade our leadership Scorecard down to our departmental teams, but we are worried about creating a disconnected mess of departmental metrics. How do we ensure departmental scorecards remain vertically aligned with our leadership metrics?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Cascading your Scorecard down to your departmental teams is the best way to drive accountability throughout your entire organization, but it must be done with strict discipline to prevent a disconnected mess. To maintain vertical alignment, every departmental scorecard metric must directly feed and support a high level metric on your leadership team Scorecard. Start by looking at a leadership metric, such as weekly sales volume. The sales department scorecard should then track the sub metrics that drive that outcome, such as outbound calls made, discovery meetings booked, and proposals sent. This creates a clear hierarchy of data where every lower level number has a direct, logical path of elevation to the leadership team. To keep this aligned, the leader of each department must own the connection. They are responsible for reviewing their departmental scorecard with their team every week and ensuring the data is accurate. If a departmental metric is consistently red, the leader must be prepared to bring that issue up to the leadership team Level 10 Meeting™ if it starts to threaten the high level goals. This vertical link ensures your entire company is pulling in the same direction.