Dashboards:
Employees
Work
Better
When they Know the Score!
Coach’s vs. Player’s Dashboards
• Good coaches know all their team’s stats and study them
voraciously.
• Players really only need to know whether they are winning or
losing, where the ball is at, and how much time is left in the
game.
Trademarks of Effective Players’ Dashboards
1.
Set Clear, Focused Goals
“Goals cannot sound noble but vague. Targets cannot be so
blurry they can’t be hit. Your direction has to be so vivid that if
you randomly woke one of your employees in the middle of the
night and asked him, ‘Where are we going?’ he could still answer
in a half-asleep stuper”
-Jack Welch
GE CEO
Set Clear, Focused Goals
“Improving our ability to multitask actually hampers our ability to
think deeply and creatively . . . The more you multitask . . the less
deliberative you become; the less you’re able to think and reason
out a problem”
-Jordan Grafman
National Institute of Neurological Disorders
Set Clear, Focused Goals
“We are the most focused company that I know or have read of
or have any knowledge of. We say no to good ideas every day.
We say no to great ideas in order to keep the amount of things
we focus on very small in number so that we can put enormous
energy behind the ones we do choose.”
-Tim Cook
Apple CEO
“I’m as proud of what we don’t do as what we do”
-Steve Jobs
Trademarks of Effective Players’ Dashboards
2. Engagement: Leaders Can Veto, But Not Dictate Team Goals
• Leaders at each level decide which one or two focuses for
their teams will most impact the company’s goal(s).
• Individual team’s focuses must “win the war”
Trademarks of Effective Player’s Dashboards
3. Goals Have Clear Finish Lines
From X to Y by When?
“Land a man on the moon and return him safely to earth before
this decade is out . . . That challenge is one that we are willing to
accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we
intend to win”
John F. Kennedy
President of the United States
Clear Finish Lines:
Everyone Knows What Success Looks Like
X TO Y BY WHEN
X TO Y BY WHEN
X TO Y BY WHEN
X TO Y BY WHEN
X TO Y BY WHEN
X TO Y BY WHEN
X TO Y BY WHEN
X TO Y BY WHEN
FOCUS ON
ONE GOAL
KEEP A
SCORE
BOARD
ACCOUNT
WEEKLY
TRACK THE
LEAD
MEASURES
Track The Lead Measures
Lead
Measures
Lag Measures
• Measures the
Goal
From X to Y
Lead Measures
• Predictive
Measures something
that leads to the goal
• Influenceable
Something that can
be highly influenced
Lag
Measures
Keys to Effective Players’
Scoreboards
• Simple
• Highly visible to the team
• Shows lag and lead
measures
• Everyone can immediately
tell if they are winning
GOAL
Increase Revenue
from $2 to $3
Million By 12/31
LEAD MEASURE
Generate 10 new
leads per week per
sales associate
LEAD MEASURE
Convert 5% of
leads
$4.0
$2.0
$1
2
3
4
Associate
John
Bob
Mary
Seth
Total
1
6
17
3
12
39
2
4
7
2
12
25
3
14
14
3
2
33
2
3
4
5
4
1
1
7
8
18
6
5
15
5
15
7
42
6
15
9
8
16
48
10%
5%
0%
1
5
6
Keep a Scoreboard
“People are most satisfied with their jobs (and therefore most
motivated) when those jobs give them the opportunity to experience
achievement”
Frederick Herzberg
Published in Harvard Business Review:
“One More Time: How Do You Motivate Employees?”
Weekly Accountability Sessions
Account
Review
Scoreboard
Plan
• Review commitments that
were made last week
• Use the dashboard to
celebrate success and learn
from failures
• Clear obstacles and make
new commitments
Dashboards
Employees Work Better When They Know The Score
“When we deal in generalities, we shall never succeed. When we
deal in specifics, we shall rarely have a failure. When performance
is measured, performance is improved. When performance is
measured and reported, the rate of performance accelerates”
Questions
Please don’t hesitate
Forecasting & Managing Cash
Why Cash is King and How to Keep
it That Way
Why do we forecast &
manage cash?
16
Paying Bills with?
Gross Profit
Sales less Costs of Sales
EBITDA
Earnings Before Interest
Net Income
Taxes, Depreciation &
Gross Profit less Operating
Amortization
Expenses
CASH IS KING
17
CLIENT EXAMPLE
Profitably growing yourself bankrupt
Business Model
2 Month
HIGHLY
PROFITABLE
FINANCIALS
Month 1
Gross Margin
50%+
Expenses
5%
&
Month 2
Sales
100
COS
(50)
Expenses (5)
Income
45
200
(100)
(10)
90
Cash
(165)
Client Terms
(55)
18
WALMART EXAMPLE
Skinny Margins – Strong Cash Flow
Business Model
2 Month
MARGINALLY
PROFITABLE –
DVDS – 500,000
FINANCIALS
Month 1
Gross Margin
25%
Expenses
20%
&
Month 2
Sales
100
COS
(75)
Expenses (20)
Income
5
200
(100)
(10)
90
Cash
15
Client Terms
5
Vendor Terms
19
Cash Forecasting
Short Term vs Long Term
Long Term
13 Week
Think:
Think:
In Game Adjustments
Changing Defense
Injury
Time remaining
Small lead
Basketball Coach Game Plan
Watch film
Study w staff
Talk to team
Set game plan
Leanest
Period
10
Week/Month
8
6
4
2
0
“Plans are Useless, but planning is essential”
Dwight D
20
LONG TERM Cash Forecast
Game Planning
LACK OF
PLANNING
Most companies forecast LT
Most
importantly
profitability but not working
capital and cash
WHY DO IT?
CAPACITY
PLANNING
INVESTOR
REQUIREMENT
EARLY
WARNING
SYSTEM
21
SHORT TERM Cash Forecast
In Game Planning & Adjusting
LACK OF
PLANNING
Most
importantly
Even fewer have a proper ST
cash forecast
WHY DO IT?
CONFIDENCE
INVESTOR
REQUIREMENT
EARLY
WARNING
SYSTEM
SPOTTING
BAD TRENDS
22
13 Week Cash Flow Forecast
Crucial Elements
A powerful management tool, the 13-Week Cash Flow projection, refreshed weekly, should be used by all companies, both
healthy and distressed to assist with managing and anticipating short-term liquidity needs.
 13 Weeks
Maintains accuracy, but long
enough to react
 Weekly
Avoids “intra-month” surprises
 Beginning vs Ending Cash
 Liquidity
tracks available liquidity
weekly
 Major Categories
 Variance Analysis
sufficient explanations
 Weekly Accountability
management tool
naturally grouped, summarized
 Specific Unusual items
 Graph
Simple cash & liquidity trending
Reconciles weekly
QR code
23
CASH FLOW FORMULA
simple version
For any given period:
Inc
Income
Sales less Costs
+/-
Inv
D In Inventory
Additions to inventory
= less cash
+/-
AR
+/-
AP
D in Accounts
Receivable
D in Accounts
Payable
Increases to AR
means you didn’t
collect = less cash
Decreases to AP
means you paid
vendors = less cash
24
Managing Cash
key items to focus on
 Increase
Revenue +
Decrease
Costs
Inventory
 Categorize – Safety,
Replenishment,
Excess
 Don’t treat all SKUs
the same
Income
 Set target fill rate vs
customer satisfaction
Cash
 Avoid “life-time” buys
 Invoice properly
 Obtain terms…and
with early pay
discounts
 Pay on time
 Set proper customer
expectations
Accounts
Payable
Accounts
Receivable
 Incentives for cash collection
– measure & reward
 Focus on dispute resolution
25