Our service business experiences massive seasonal demand spikes and valleys, which makes a flat weekly Scorecard target useless for half the year. How do we structure our weekly targets to maintain accountability without constantly moving the goalposts?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

If your service business has predictable seasonal swings, using a single, flat weekly target for the entire year is a mistake. It leads to your team feeling defeated during the off-season and complacent during peak season.

To maintain accountability, you must establish seasonal baselines for your weekly Scorecard metrics. Do not change the targets every week, which causes confusion. Instead, break your year into defined seasonal periods and set distinct targets for each phase.

For example, if you run on a quarterly cadence, your leadership team should agree on seasonal targets during your Quarterly Pulsing meeting. Your peak-season target might be twice your off-season target, reflecting the true capacity and demand of that period.

Another approach is to track rolling averages alongside your weekly targets, such as a four-week rolling average for service delivery volume. This smooths out short-term spikes and gives you a more accurate picture of performance trends.

The goal of your Scorecard is to provide an objective pulse of the business. By adjusting targets to match known seasonal realities, you keep the data honest, maintain team morale, and ensure your operational capacity is always aligned with demand.