Effective Management Is About More than Keeping Score
I’ve gone too far.
That’s not easy for me to admit.
You won’t find a bigger scorecard enthusiast than me.
I’ve used scorecards to wrangle thousands of college kids into being a productive workforce in my student painting company.
I’ve used them to help companies optimize efficiency, instill accountability, and clarify expectations.
I know that scorecards work.
Part of the reason I’ve intuitively always aligned with scorecards is that they’re results-oriented.
I’m an entrepreneur, yet I’m still also a fan of accountability and strong management.
I’ve run my companies with the assumption that everyone else feels similarly.
That setting clear expectations and holding them accountable to results is enough. I’ve assumed that those factors alone (along with incentivized, aligned compensation and a strong company culture) are enough to get employees to work hard.
I was (sort of) wrong.
***
I started to realize the issue as my own companies got large enough to need layers of middle management.
Everyone in my companies has at least one scorecard item they’re responsible for.
But for a manager, their scorecard items are only part of what they’re expected to do all day.
There are other responsibilities that can’t be tracked in the same way, and you need to have other things in place to ensure people are actually getting those things done, and that people are actually even working a full day (especially for those of you with remote team members).
And if leadership isn’t providing enough guidance, or even management of the managers, well…
Nobody really ends up getting what they need.
Because ultimately, all of the untrackable tasks that surround the big results are, in part, how you get to the big results.
What I’ve seen is that someone might hit all their targets…for awhile.
But while they might be hitting the standard targets we set for them, two things can happen:
1. They aren’t putting in the work to sustain those results. After a few months, that will start to show, and results will drop off. Or they will get inconsistent results because… once again, sometimes people aren’t working full days or they aren’t working on the right things.
2. They aren’t putting in the work to reach their full potential, which might be higher than the baseline. In other words, they may be doing “good enough”, but they could be doing much better with stronger management.
***
You might be surprised (or not) to learn who’s to blame here.
I am.
My leadership team is.
Over the years, I have worked with amazing teams that more often than not rise to the occasion when challenged.
So if they don’t have enough structure, management, or accountability to excel?
That’s not on them. It’s ultimately on me.
And I think the root cause, in a way, goes back to the scorecard.
The scorecard is often described as a way to “have your finger on the pulse of your business.”
It’s an amazing tool that gives leaders a quick and easy way to health-check the company.
But let’s face it. When you go to the doctor for a physical, they’re doing more than checking your pulse.
Focusing only on the scorecard overindexes on the results as a way to make sure the company is healthy.
There are many other aspects you need to focus on as well.
Not by micro-managing.
Not by baby-sitting.
But by providing enough structure, accountability, and expectation-setting that every employee can answer this question:
“What am I supposed to do all day?”
Effective management starts with foundational tools: Role Maps, Position Agreements, Quarterly Check-ins, and, yes, Scorecards. Let us know if you’d like to learn how these tools help your employees reach their potential and bring more value to your business.
