Annual Planning Step 3: Building Goals & Scorecards #
The third step in the annual planning process is creating the Goals and Scorecards that will guide your organization’s performance during the upcoming year.
After defining your long-term strategy—including your BHAG, Milestones, and Initiatives—it’s time to translate that strategy into measurable goals and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that your teams can execute and monitor throughout the year.
When to Build Goals & Scorecards #
Complete this step after you have worked through the Strategy tab and identified your organization’s strategic direction.
For example:
- If you are conducting annual planning during 2026, you will build the goals and scorecards for 2027.
- These goals become the primary KPIs your organization will track during the upcoming year.
Building Annual KPIs #
Your annual scorecards should include the key performance indicators that measure progress toward your strategic objectives.
These KPIs should:
- Align with your annual business goals.
- Support your long-term BHAG.
- Provide clear, measurable outcomes.
- Be assigned to the appropriate company, department, team, or individual scorecards.
Together, these scorecards create the operational rhythm that keeps your organization focused throughout the year.
Where Goals & Scorecards Are Created #
Goals and scorecards are created in the Goals module.
From there, you can:
- Create company goals.
- Build department, team, and individual scorecards.
- Define KPIs and performance targets.
- Assign owners.
- Monitor progress throughout the year.
The Goals module becomes the operational execution layer for the strategic plan you created during annual planning.
Linking Strategy to Execution #
Once your goals and scorecards have been created, you can return to the Strategy tab and connect your planning elements to the work being executed.
For example, you can link:
- Milestone targets to annual goals.
- Strategic initiatives to execution plans.
- Long-term objectives to measurable KPIs.
This creates a direct connection between your long-term strategy and the goals your teams monitor every day.
Best Practices #
- Complete your strategic planning before building annual scorecards.
- Limit KPIs to the measures that are most critical to achieving your annual goals.
- Ensure every KPI supports a milestone or long-term strategic objective.
- Assign ownership for every goal so accountability is clear.
- Revisit the Strategy tab after building scorecards to link strategic targets with the goals being tracked throughout the year.
Creating well-defined goals and scorecards ensures your annual plan moves beyond strategy and becomes a measurable, actionable system for execution across the organization.
For detailed instructions on creating goals and scorecards, refer to the Goals section of the Propel Support Center.