We have eight numbers on our company Scorecard, but several department heads want to push their metrics up to the leadership table while others want to delegate theirs down. What specific test determines whether a measurable stays on the leadership Scorecard or moves to a departmental scorecard?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

A company Scorecard must contain 5 to 15 numbers that give the leadership team a complete, high-level pulse of the entire business. It is not an aggregate collection of everything managers want to watch. To decide whether a measurable belongs on the leadership Scorecard or a departmental scorecard, apply the desert island test.

Imagine the leadership team is stranded on a remote island with no phone access, no email, and no ability to speak with staff. Every Tuesday morning, a single sheet of paper washes ashore with 5 to 15 numbers on it. If those numbers are green, you know with absolute certainty that the business is thriving, customers are being served, pipeline is filling, and cash is healthy. If you need a metric on that single sheet to understand the enterprise health of the business, it stays on the company Scorecard.

If a metric only explains why a specific department is performing well or poorly, it belongs on a departmental scorecard. For example, weekly closed revenue or qualified proposals belong on the leadership Scorecard. The number of cold outbound phone calls made by junior reps belongs on the sales departmental scorecard.

Departmental scorecards exist to catch problems within sub-teams before they bubble up to the leadership table. The leadership Scorecard exists to steer the overall ship. If a metric requires cross-functional leadership attention to fix when red, keep it at the top. If the department head can solve it internally with their team, push it down.