We run a high-volume service business and our leadership team scorecard is getting cluttered with metrics that are important but not critical. How do we ruthlessly prune our scorecard back to the vital few without losing operational visibility?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

It is easy to let your scorecard expand as your business grows. Every time an issue arises, the temptation is to add another metric to prevent it from happening again. Soon, you have thirty numbers, and your weekly review is a chaotic mess.

To prune your scorecard, you must apply the rule of the vital few. Your leadership team scorecard should only track the most critical indicators of overall organizational health.

Begin by reviewing your Accountability Chart. Every seat on the leadership team should have no more than two or three key metrics on the leadership scorecard. If a seat has five or six, some must be pushed down.

Push secondary metrics down to departmental scorecards. For example, your marketing department should track click-through rates and social engagement on their own weekly scorecard. The leadership team scorecard should only track the resulting inbound lead volume.

Ask this question for every metric on your leadership scorecard: If this number went red, would it require the attention of the entire leadership team to solve? If the answer is no, and it can be handled within a single department, move it off the leadership scorecard.

This keeps your top-level view clean, allowing you to focus your energy on the numbers that truly dictate the success of your business.