We have several scorecard numbers like gross margin and client retention where multiple departments play a role. Because of this, our leadership team wants to co-own these metrics. How do we assign individual ownership on our scorecard when a number requires a team effort?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Dual ownership is a recipe for zero accountability. If two people own a number, nobody owns it. Every single weekly measurable on your EOS® scorecard must have one, and only one, individual owner designated by their seat on the Accountability Chart.

This does not mean they do all the work to produce the result. It means they are the single person responsible for reporting the number, explaining why it is red, and bringing a solution to the table during your Level 10 Meeting™.

For cross-functional metrics like gross margin, the owner is typically your head of finance or operations. If the number goes red because sales is underpricing deals, the owner of the margin metric does not take the blame. Instead, they identify the root cause and work with the sales head to solve it using the IDS® process.

For client retention, your head of account management or customer success owns the metric. They must coordinate with delivery and sales, but they still own the number. If you allow shared ownership, your weekly review will quickly devolve into finger-pointing and excuse-making.

Assign one owner, make the expectations clear, and use your weekly operational meetings to solve the systemic issues together.