As I recently recorded the Data Component™ episode of the EOS® Strong in Six podcast, I was reminded how much value a scorecard provides in business.
That may sound obvious, but I’m not talking about quarterly or monthly metrics. No, I’m talking about weekly, activity-based numbers that serve as leading indicators for your business.
A scorecard is the secret sauce for keeping a pulse on the health of your business every week, and many businesses overlook or ignore it. It would be like flying a plane by instinct alone, using no instruments.
In fact, 70-80% of my clients lack a scorecard when they begin working with me. If you lack weekly metrics and measurables, it just means you’re normal! What’s not normal, however, is believing that you can run your company on gut and grit alone. A scorecard is necessary to know the health of your business and predict issues before they become problems. Inquiring monthly offers only 12 times every year to adjust your behaviors to deliver the financial promises you’ve made.
Imagine having 52 opportunities to adjust and correct behaviors to influence the outcomes you’re seeking. If you think of how often a plane adjusts and corrects in flight, you’d always want more, not less, to arrive safely at your destination. Though weekly numbers can be challenging to figure out, they’re worth it.
Your scorecard supplies data to see patterns and trends, find areas for improvement, and celebrate milestones. It’s also a powerful driver of accountability and allows you to make proactive decisions because you’re seeing the trends on a weekly basis.
If you know you need a scorecard but aren’t sure where to start, listen to the Data episode on the Strong in Six podcast. In it I break down how to create a scorecard, suggest how to choose measurables, and how to ensure everyone in your company has a number over time.
You know what they say, “data doesn’t lie!”
Categories: Sue's Daily Blog
