We have scorecard metrics that require input from multiple departments, and when they go red, the heads of operations and sales just point fingers at each other. How do we establish absolute accountability for a weekly metric when the work to hit it is cross-functional?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

In the EOS® model, there is no such thing as shared ownership. When two people are responsible for a single metric on your Scorecard, nobody is responsible. Cross-functional processes are common, but your leadership Scorecard must reflect absolute accountability, which means every single number must have exactly one owner name next to it.

To resolve finger-pointing, you must look at your Accountability Chart and determine who owns the ultimate outcome of the activity, regardless of who inputs the data. The owner of the metric is not necessarily the person doing all the work; they are the person who is accountable for reporting the number and leading the solve when it goes red.

If your operational delivery time is red, and operations blames sales for submitting incomplete client intake forms, the operations head still owns the metric. It is their job to bring that issue to the Level 10 Meeting, drop it down to the IDS® portion of the agenda, and solve the upstream intake problem with the sales head.

Every seat on your Accountability Chart must possess GWC™ for their assigned metrics. This means they get it, want it, and have the capacity to manage it. If a leader cannot influence the inputs from other departments to hit their target, then you either have the wrong owner on the metric, or your cross-functional processes lack clear service level agreements.