Glossary
Output metric
An output metric counts what came out of the other end of the process: jobs completed, deals closed, revenue booked, support tickets resolved. It answers whether the work turned into anything, which no input row can do on its own. Outputs arrive days or weeks late, so they sit on a weekly board as the check rather than the lever.
01
Pairing an output row with the input in front of it
The clean way to build a Scorecard is in pairs: an input row and the output it feeds, sitting next to each other. Proposals sent and deals closed. Interviews held and seats filled. When the input stays green and the output stays flat for a month, the meeting has a real problem to solve instead of a number to explain.
Output rows are where most companies start and where most get stuck, because the number lands after the week that produced it. On its own an output row generates explanation. Paired with its input it generates a diagnosis: either we did not do enough of the work, or the work we did was aimed at the wrong people.
Worked example: A staffing agency watched placements per week fall for a month and blamed the market. The board had no input row on it. Adding candidate submissions showed submissions had held steady, which pointed at the client end rather than at recruiter effort. Two accounts had quietly moved to a preferred supplier list and nobody had asked.
Sources: onstrategyhq.com/resources/leading-and-lagging-indicators; Glossary of Key Terms in Evaluation and Results-Based Management for Sustainable Development, OECD (2023)
Input metric
An input metric counts the work a team puts in: calls made, quotes issued, shifts staffed, parts ordered, invoices sent on the day of delivery.
02Lagging indicator
A lagging indicator reports a result after the period that produced it has closed: revenue, gross margin, employee turnover, satisfaction scores.
03Ratio metric
A ratio metric divides one number by another: win rate, cost per lead, revenue per employee, the percentage of orders shipped on time.
04Leading vs lagging indicators, with examples you can use
Lagging indicators tell you what happened; leading indicators tell you what's about to. How to tell them apart, why weekly Scorecards need mostly leading ones.
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