Visualizing the team’s progress is one of the best ways to keep the team and project on track to success and ensure project completion.
Implementing scoreboards and other visual tools for project management in your day-to-day practice will motivate the team and ensure effortless information exchange.
Find out how to make the most of scoreboards!
Visualization With the Scoreboard in Project Management
Visualization tools such as scoreboards help project managers simplify processes and control projects by showing complex data via visual tools that are easily comprehensible.
A scoreboard is a simple and visual way that shows the team whether they are winning or losing. Like in sports, the team will become more motivated when their performance results are in plain sight, allowing them to change their game and strategy accordingly if they see positive or adverse effects.
Performance metrics shown on the scoreboard should be displayed so that everyone can easily see them and show them in a way that is easy to understand with a glance. A scoreboard gives concise information on project aspects that could make or break the project.
Scoreboards contain straightforward information on the progress made, whereas scorecards present various important data and metrics combined. Both of these visual tools can be used in project management practice to help the team reach their target goal or complete their project.
Visualizing data in project management allows the team to keep them in sight, adapting their strategy accordingly. The data scoreboard becomes a compass, letting the team know if they are moving forward in the right direction and allowing them sufficient time to change or adapt their strategy in a way that would allow them to reach the goal.
A scoreboard can show KPI results, OKR, 4DX, and financial aspects of a project, such as budgeting. Combined with the project’s time frame, this shows the team their results relative to what they are trying to achieve. It’s up to the project manager and the team to choose components and metrics that will be used in a scoreboard to show the most relevant performance and achievements to the team.
Benefits of Using a Scoreboard
When a team uses a scoreboard, it improves its overall performance. In addition to boosting team motivation, a scoreboard will improve team and cross-team communication, as it clearly displays achieved results. Scoreboards are great tools for effortlessly sharing results and achievements or opening conversation topics, as they are easy to use and understand.
Team members can use the scoreboard to track their results, make better decisions along the way, and reduce time spent on the decision-making process. By adapting promptly to a new situation, the teams nurture agility as they strive towards achieving better results. Compared with other visualization tools, scoreboards help the team collaborate and achieve better results by giving essential information on whether the team is winning or losing and allowing them to adapt on the go without losing precious time.
How to Implement a Scoreboard?
Implementing a scoreboard shows the team and the project manager whether the team is on an upward trajectory, allowing them enough time to make changes if the project is off course. A scoreboard should show relevant metrics and data that will help the team and motivate them toward results. The first step to implementing a scoreboard is choosing which aspects of the progress will be shown.
Implementing a scoreboard such as OKR helps the team understand how far they are from their current goals and objectives. When changes occur in the OKR scoreboard, the team will be motivated to keep up with the practices that give outstanding results or find a way to change the results that led to unfavorable outcomes.
Scoreboard vs. Scorecard in Project Management
Teams can use a scoreboard and a scorecard to determine whether they are winning or losing. Both tools are visual representations that allow the team to see their progress. However, they differ in how much detail and information they provide the team.
Scoreboard:
- Shows the team how far they have come
- Shows the team where they are in relation to the goal set
- Gives instant information about the results achieved to the team
- Resembles a scoreboard in sports
- Gives key information on progress and whether it’s going as planned
- Easy to understand
- Shows the team they’re on the right track
Scorecard:
- Shows various metrics and data
- Shows the team’s results
- Can be further analyzed to determine the reasons that led to the achieved results
- Combines relevant metrics
- Gives a detailed insight into the team’s progress
- Can facilitate pinpointing improvement areas
- Shows the team their achievements supported by data and metrics
KPI Scoreboard
The KPI scoreboard shows the results of Key Performance Indicators. The first step is to determine the team’s KPIs. Teams can rely on the SMART acronym to create specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound KPIs. The objective should be specific that will lead to the desired outcome. The progress towards the objective should be measurable, showing the team’s advancement. Setting realistic and relevant goals ensures they are attainable and relevant to the team’s progress. Finally, a well-defined time frame for the goal accomplishment ensures set goals have a target completion date.
KPIs will differ depending on the business, but displaying a KPI is an effective tool for all teams. It can show individual and team achievements in relation to the company’s goals, motivating team members. The KPI metrics show the team if they are on the right track or falling behind. Reevaluating KPIs is also important as it will help teams change KPIs if the bar has been set too low or too high and pinpoint events that might have affected their results.
KPIs represent team effort, providing a quantifiable measure of performance and helping teams and managers improve performance and achieve their goals. Scoreboards should include KPIs to show the team their progress and how close or far they are to the goals set. Overviewing KPIs allows teams to review their progress as they strive to reach the desired outcome and clearly define which steps they should take in the future.
OKR Scoreboard
OKR stands for objectives and key results. Determining OKR for your team and project ensures that the team focuses on achieving results and the set goals. OKR allows the team to determine goals, stimulate engagement, and track progress. OKR scoreboard shows the team whether they are on target with a single glance at the scale. Setting clear goals and targets with OKR improves the chances of reaching them, motivates them towards the goal, shows accountability, and helps pinpoint areas that need improvement.
OKR uses a scale from 0.0 to 1.0 divided into three segments. These segments can also be shown in three colors: red, yellow, and green. Red is used for the lowest segments on the scale, from 0.0 to 0.3, and those segments indicate that no progress was made on the project. Yellow is used for the middle part of the scale, from 0.4 to 0.6, indicating that some progress was made, but it did not lead to completion. The green part of the scale from 0.7 to 1.0 indicates that the team delivered the expected results and to what extent.
The OKR scoreboard, divided into three segments and labeled with three colors, clearly shows the team whether their performance is off target, at risk, or on target. OKR scoreboard helps the team objectively view their results and see whether they have underperformed or achieved the set results by viewing their progress on a scale.
4DX Scoreboard
4DX, or the Four Disciplines of Execution scoreboard, is based on the principles of focus, leverage, engagement, and accountability. Working on a project is a lot like playing a team sport. In project management, teams work together to achieve goals. Teams and project managers use a 4DX scoreboard to achieve their wildly important goals.
The purpose of a 4DX scoreboard is to create a scoreboard that will motivate team members, allowing them to achieve their goals. The 4 Disciplines of Execution are:
- Focus on the wildly important
- Act on the lead measures
- Keep a compelling scoreboard
- Create a cadence of accountability
The team’s 4DX scoreboard shows WIGs (Wildly Important Goals) and lead and lag measures to keep the team engaged and show the project’s course.
A look at the 4DX scoreboard allows the team to see if they are winning or losing and where the project is headed, never losing sight of their goals. A compelling scoreboard will engage and motivate your team.
4DX scoreboard should be easy to use and displayed where everyone can see it. Teams should also have regular weekly sessions to establish accountability. These meetings are usually not very long, as 20-minute weekly sessions are enough time for the team to set their agenda and reinforce accountability.
With a 4DX scoreboard, the team easily monitors the scoreboard and tracks their achievements, taking them to their project goals.
Budget Tracking With Scoreboard
Managing a project’s budget is one of the key aspects of managing a project. The first step towards success is to estimate the project’s cost correctly, and after that, it’s all about rationally spending the budget while working towards your project goal. Using a scoreboard for budget tracking is the best way to stick within the budget limits and ensure you don’t overstep them. Monitoring the budget closely and regularly helps project managers detect potential issues early on and control project costs.
A budget tracking scoreboard clearly shows how much you have spent on the project. Having crucial financial information displayed will prevent project managers from overlooking it. A budget scoreboard should clearly and visually display how far along the team has come in the project’s progress and how much of the budget has been spent during that time. It should also display how much of the budget is left. This vital information will help project managers make better project expense decisions.
Suppose the budget scoreboard shows from the start that the budget is being spent rapidly. In that case, the initial estimation should be reevaluated, and expenses should be closely inspected. Perhaps the initial estimation was lower, or unexpected expenses occurred, threatening to endanger the project’s progress and completion. Having a budget scoreboard at all times with relevant information helps project managers plan their next step accordingly and ensure that the lack of resources does not jeopardize the project's completion.
