When setting the weekly goal column on our Scorecard, our department heads either set the bar so low that they never miss, or so high that the metric is permanently red. How do we establish objective weekly goal targets that drive accountability without encouraging sandbagging?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Setting Scorecard goals is a balancing act between operational reality and behavioral psychology. If you let seat owners set their own targets without pushback, human nature takes over. They will sandbag the numbers so their column stays green regardless of their performance. Conversely, visionary owners often set arbitrary stretch goals that result in perpetual red, which demoralizes the team and trains them to ignore misses.

To set objective Scorecard targets, anchor every weekly goal to your annual budget and quarterly Rocks, not personal preference.

Work the math backward from your V/TO. If your annual plan requires four million dollars in new revenue, and your average deal size is forty thousand dollars, you need one hundred closed deals per year, or roughly two per week. If your sales conversion rate from proposal to close is twenty-five percent, your weekly proposal goal must be eight. The target is not an arbitrary wish; it is a mathematical requirement to achieve the company's stated vision.

Once the target is anchored in reality, establish a clear threshold standard. A Scorecard goal is a pass-or-fail line, not a graded curve. If the target is eight proposals, seven is red.

When a number is chronically red, do not lower the goal to ease emotional tension. Bring the metric to the Level 10 Meeting agenda, IDS the underlying bottleneck, and decide whether the process is broken, the seat lacks capacity, or the person in the seat does not GWC their role.