We have a critical weekly Scorecard metric that consistently falls short, but the two leaders whose departments touch it keep blaming each other for the failure. How do we assign clear ownership of a shared operational number on our Scorecard?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

A weekly Scorecard metric with joint ownership is a metric that will inevitably fail. When two people are responsible for a single number, nobody is responsible. If your operations and sales leaders are pointing fingers over a red metric, you have a structural issue on your Accountability Chart.

To solve this, look at the root cause of the metric. If the number is project handoff time, and sales blames operations while operations blames sales, you must break the metric down. Give the sales leader a metric for the accuracy and completeness of the client onboarding paperwork. Give the operations leader a metric for the turnaround time once that complete paperwork is received.

Every single line on your weekly Scorecard must have one, and only one, owner. That owner is not necessarily the person doing the physical work, but they are the person who is fully accountable for the result. By separating the steps and assigning clear, individual ownership, you eliminate finger-pointing and allow your team to solve the actual operational bottlenecks during your Level 10 Meeting.