Our weekly Scorecard has twenty five different metrics and tracking them is turning into a massive administrative chore. How do we trim this down to the numbers that actually matter?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

A Scorecard with twenty-five metrics is not a scorecard. It is a dashboard. It defeats the entire purpose of the tool, which is to give you a quick, weekly pulse on the health of your business. To fix this, you need to ruthlessly cut down your metrics. A healthy leadership Scorecard should have between five and fifteen high-level numbers. These should be activity-based, leading indicators, not lagging financial results. They must tell you where you are going, not just where you have been. Start by looking at your Accountability Chart. Every seat on that chart should have one or two key metrics that they are responsible for. If a metric does not directly correlate to a critical seat or a strategic goal, remove it. Next, ask yourself: if we could only look at three numbers to know if our business is healthy, what would they be? Use those as your core. Tracking your Scorecard should take less than five minutes in your Level 10 Meeting. If it is an administrative burden, you are tracking the wrong things. Simplify, focus on the leading indicators, and hold individuals accountable for their numbers.