We operate a seasonal business where revenue and volume fluctuate wildly between quarters. Should we change our weekly Scorecard targets every month to match our seasonality, or does that defeat the purpose of tracking weekly trends?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Changing your Scorecard targets every few weeks destroys trend visibility and introduces administrative confusion. When goalposts move constantly, your leadership team cannot tell whether a green number reflects operational discipline or simply an artificially lowered expectation.

Instead of constantly rewriting your weekly Scorecard, handle seasonality using one of two structured approaches:

- Use rolling averages or pacing ratios: If total revenue swings wildly, track a weekly pacing percentage against seasonal budget or a rolling four-week average. For example, measure percentage of quarterly delivery plan achieved to date rather than a flat weekly output target. This keeps the target consistent while accounting for cyclical ramp-ups.

- Set quarterly targets during Quarterly Planning: Your Scorecard goals should stay locked for thirteen weeks at a time. During your quarterly offsite, adjust the weekly goals for the upcoming quarter based on your seasonal forecast. If Q1 requires forty installs a week and Q2 requires eighty, update the Scorecard goal once at the start of the quarter and leave it untouched for the next thirteen Level 10 Meetings.

Never adjust a weekly target mid-quarter simply because a team is missing it due to seasonal drag. If summer slowdown causes an activity drop, let the metric turn red. You can then quickly evaluate during IDS whether the drop matches historical seasonal modeling or if the team is genuinely underperforming. A red metric that confirms expected seasonality is not a failure; it is an objective operational pulse doing its job.