We suspect some of our department managers are gaming their scorecard metrics to keep their numbers green, such as closing support tickets prematurely or counting low quality phone calls as active leads. How do we audit and restructure our metrics to prevent this behavior?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When a metric becomes a target, it ceases to be a good metric if it is easy to game. People will always optimize for the behaviors you reward or measure, which is why your weekly Scorecard needs counter balancing metrics to maintain honesty. If you measure your support team solely on the number of tickets closed, they will close tickets prematurely. To fix this, you must introduce a counter balancing quality metric, such as ticket reopen rate or customer satisfaction score for closed tickets. If the quantity is high but the quality drops, the system is broken, and both numbers should go red. The same applies to sales. If you only track outbound phone calls, your salespeople will dial random numbers or have brief, useless conversations. Balance that metric with first time appointments scheduled or seconds of talk time. As a leadership team, you must also foster a culture where red numbers are viewed as opportunities to solve problems, not as reasons for punishment. If your team is terrified of a red cell, they will find ways to game the system. Use your Level 10 Meeting™ to model this behavior. When a number is red, do not attack the person. Instead, drop it down to the Issues List and use IDS® to identify the root cause together.