We are building our first leadership team Scorecard and our department heads have submitted a list of over forty different metrics they want to track weekly. How do we ruthlessly whittle this list down to the recommended five to fifteen high-level numbers that actually matter?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Trying to run a business on forty weekly metrics is a recipe for operational paralysis. When everything is important, nothing is important. Your leadership team Scorecard must contain only five to fifteen high-level, activity-based leading indicators that give you an objective pulse on the entire organization.

To cut the noise, start by mapping your metrics directly to the seats on your Accountability Chart. Every number must have a single owner who is ultimately accountable for its success. If a number does not directly correlate to a key accountability of a leadership seat, remove it.

Next, push the granular tactical metrics down to departmental scorecards. Your sales manager might track ten sub-metrics on their departmental scorecard, but only one or two high-level indicators, like weekly qualified opportunities created, belong on the leadership Scorecard.

To narrow down the final list, ask your team this question: If you were on a desert island with only a phone that received a single text message once a week with fifteen numbers on it, which numbers would tell you exactly how the business is running? Focus on the critical cash, capacity, and activity drivers. Everything else is distraction.