Our department heads are filling out our weekly Scorecard, but we find that the numbers are often ignored until the actual meeting starts, leaving us with no time to proactively correct issues. How do we build a culture of proactive accountability around our metrics?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

A Scorecard is not a retrospective report card; it is a forward-looking dashboard designed to spot problems before they hit your profit and loss statement. If your team only looks at the Scorecard during the weekly Level 10 Meeting™, you are driving the business by looking in the rearview mirror.

To build proactive accountability, every single metric on your Scorecard must have a clear owner, and that owner must be responsible for updating their number by a strict weekly deadline, well before the meeting begins. If a metric is off track, the owner must be prepared to drop it down to the issues list with a brief explanation.

During the meeting, do not allow storytelling about why a number was missed. If a number is red, simply drop it to the issues list and move on. Solve the problem during the IDS® portion of the meeting, not during the Scorecard review.

When leaders realize that missing a metric means they must actively explain the root cause and collaborate on a solution during IDS®, their daily behavior changes. They will begin monitoring their metrics throughout the week, turning your Scorecard into an active operational tool.