10 — KPIs & Leading Indicators
The 12 numbers the exec watches every week. If a metric is not on this list, it is not a KPI — it is an operational metric that lives in a function dashboard.
The 12 (weekly scorecard)
| # | KPI | Type | Target | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Active cohorts | Output | per plan | Capacity health |
| 2 | Cohort RAG mix (% Green) | Leading | ≥ 80% Green | Delivery quality early warning |
| 3 | Attendance (rolling 4-week avg) | Leading | ≥ 80% | Engagement; predicts outcomes |
| 4 | 1:1 completion rate | Leading | ≥ 90% | Coach delivery integrity |
| 5 | Avg session rating (1–5) | Leading | ≥ 4.2 | Real-time participant signal |
| 6 | Safeguarding flags open > 7 days | Leading | 0 | Single most important risk metric |
| 7 | Coach utilisation | Leading | 60–75% | Below = bench fat; above = burnout risk |
| 8 | Pipeline coverage (next 90 days) | Leading | ≥ 3× target | Commercial early warning |
| 9 | Win rate (rolling 6 deals) | Lagging | ≥ 30% | ICP discipline check |
| 10 | Cash runway (months) | Lagging | ≥ 9 | Survival metric |
| 11 | Gross margin per cohort | Lagging | ≥ 55% | Pricing + delivery efficiency |
| 12 | Confidence factor on shipped outcomes | Lagging | ≥ 0.7 | Evidence credibility (Sprint 8 §05) |
Leading vs lagging
- Leading indicators move first — they predict what the lagging numbers will look like in 4–12 weeks. Spend 70% of attention here.
- Lagging indicators confirm. Don't manage from lagging numbers alone — by then the cause is already weeks old.
Where each number lives
| KPI | Source of truth | Owner |
|---|---|---|
| 1, 2 | Delivery dashboard (Sprint 5 §04) | HoD |
| 3, 4, 5 | Cohort telemetry (Sprint 5 §05 events) | HoD |
| 6 | Safeguarding log (DSL-owned) | DSL |
| 7 | Coach roster + utilisation report | HoC |
| 8, 9 | CRM (Hubspot / equivalent) | CL |
| 10, 11 | Finance pack | Finance |
| 12 | Evidence Room (Sprint 8 §08) | Evidence Lead |
Anti-vanity rules
- No KPI without a target and a threshold for action.
- No KPI on the list without a single named owner.
- We do not add a 13th. To add one, retire one — and write why in the Decision Log.
- Counts of activity (emails sent, calls made, content produced) are not KPIs. They live in function dashboards.
- NPS is reported quarterly, not weekly — weekly NPS is noise.
Weekly scorecard format
Single page, distributed by 09:00 Friday for Exec Sync:
Week ending: <date>
# KPI This wk Last wk Plan Status
1 Active cohorts 12 12 12 ●
2 Cohort RAG mix (% Green) 83% 86% ≥80% ●
3 Attendance 81% 79% ≥80% ●
...
Top 3 things that moved
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Top 3 things that didn't (and what we are doing)
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If the scorecard cannot be produced by 09:00 Friday, that itself is the first thing discussed at Exec Sync.