Our business is highly seasonal, which means our weekly scorecard targets are constantly out of line depending on the month. Should we change our weekly targets every quarter, or is there a better way to handle seasonal fluctuations without confusing the team?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Changing your weekly scorecard targets on a whim ruins the historical consistency you need to run your business on data. If you change targets every month to make them easy to hit, you lose the ability to spot underlying performance trends. Instead, you must align your targets with seasonal baseline realities.

The best approach is to adjust your weekly targets once per quarter during your Quarterly Collaboration sessions. Look at your seasonal history over the last three years and determine the expected volume for the upcoming three-month period. Set your weekly scorecard targets based on that specific quarterly budget rather than an annualized average.

For example, if your first quarter represents forty percent of your annual sales volume, your weekly sales targets during that quarter should reflect that volume. In your slower third quarter, adjust the targets downward to match the seasonal reality.

Alternatively, you can track a rolling four-week average alongside your weekly actuals. This rolling average smooths out temporary weekly spikes and dips, allowing you to see if your seasonal performance is genuinely improving or declining compared to the same period last year. Whichever method you choose, keep targets locked for the full thirteen weeks of the quarter.