A scorecard goal set stores the targets for specific performance metrics, so Neoserra can show what percentage of each goal you have reached, both in reports and on the dashboard.

Goal sets are found under the Manage|Scorecards|Goal Sets menu option. Each goal set is tied to a scorecard and one of its definition records. When you run a scorecard alongside its goals, Neoserra divides your cumulative-to-date figures by your goal figures to calculate the percentage of goal achieved for each line item.

Once you have created a goal set, you can add it to your own dashboard or to your colleagues' dashboards, so everyone can see progress toward your performance metrics at a glance. Keep in mind that the dashboard is simply a visual display of the goal set: the goals and numbers live in the goal set itself, and the dashboard just presents them. On the dashboard, click the goal set’s name to see the actual numbers behind each line item (orange, below), or click a line item to see its full audit trail (purple, below):

If you have more than two scorecards linked to your dashboard page, then their summary format will be shown by default. You can expand an individual scorecard using the down arrow, or "Expand All" using the buttons at the top of the screen:

In this FAQ we will discuss:

• Creating a Goal Set
• Running a Goal Set
• Viewing a Goal Set
• Displaying a Goal Set on Dashboard

Note: Scorecard layouts can include both cumulative-to-date and current-reporting-period columns, but goals can only be created for cumulative periods.

Creating a Goal Set

Goals are assigned from to a scorecard's definition record, not to the scorecard layout itself.

1. If you haven't already, create a definition record for the scorecard that you would like to establish goals for. It is this definition record that you will assign your goal record to, not the scorecard layout record itself.

   Note: Keep in mind that any definition records that you intend to assign goals to should not themselves be restricted by center or counselor. Instead, those restrictions should reside in the goal records. This allows you to create multiple goal records (e.g. one per counselor or one per program, etc.) off of a single definition record.

   Note: For more information on creating definition records, see the FAQ titled What is a scorecard definition record?.

2. Start a new goal set. Either click New Goals on the definition record, or open an existing goal set and click Copy.

   

   Where you start determines which definition record and scorecard the goal set belongs to. Neoserra sets these links automatically, so there's no field to choose them.

3. Enter a descriptive name in the Goal Set Name field.

   

4. Choose the center the goal set belongs to from the first Center drop-down.
5. Select the definition parameters to use for this goal set.
6. Choose who the goals are for using the Goal Set Type drop-down:
   • Counselor: goals for one or more specific counselors.
   • Centers: goals for one or more centers. Check each center to include, or click Select All for an entire program. Inactive centers are excluded by default; check Show inactive centers to include their data.
7. Enter your goals. For each calculated line item, enter the goal value for the cumulative period set in the definition record.
8. Click Save.

Tip: Many scorecards include line items for reference only, without goals. If you'd like to show only your goaled line items on the dashboard, make a copy of your scorecard layout that includes just those line items. This keeps the dashboard clean and easy to read.

Running a Goal Set

Once saved, a goal set's read-only view shows your goals alongside the full scorecard layout. Click Run at the top of the screen to refresh the scorecard with any data entered since it was last run. The date of the last run is always shown at the bottom of the goal set:

If your goal set does include some line items that do not have a goal, such as those highlighted in orange above, then these are considered to be "non-goaled metrics." When looking at the goal set in its graphical view these non-goaled metrics are not included by default. However, a link at the bottom of the graph will allow you to show these metrics:

Tip: In addition to manually generating a columnar scorecard from a goal record, you can also schedule the goal record to run on a recurring basis and have the resulting scorecard e-mailed. For more information on scheduling columnar scorecards, see the FAQ titled How do I schedule reports and scorecards?.

Viewing a Goal Set

Besides the columnar (numerical) scorecard, every goal set can be shown as a graphical scorecard that focuses on goal progress. To view it, click the graph icon on the goal set record.

The graph displayed will be the same graph that appears on the Neoserra dashboard if you link the goal set to a specific user account:

What the colors mean:

Color	Meaning
Green	On track: within 5% of where you should be by now
Yellow	Behind by more than 5%
Red	Behind by more than 25%
Blue	Goal exceeded (over 100%)

These are the default thresholds. Neoserra administrators can change them under Administration|Configuration, in the General Settings area.

You decide what counts as off track. When you create a line item in the scorecard layout, you set its Goal Polarity to one of three options:

• High values are desirable (the most common choice)
• Low values are desirable
• Neither too high nor too low is desirable

The "elapsed" panel shows how much of the scorecard's cumulative period has passed. By default, Neoserra takes this into account when calculating goal progress.

For example, say your annual goal is 5,000 counseling hours and one week into the fiscal year you've provided 100 hours. You're right on track, but without adjusting for time elapsed, the chart would show you far short of your goal. Likewise, a line item at 74% of its annual goal still shows green when you're about 75% of the way through the period, because you're only one percentage point behind.

Some line items, like averages, shouldn't be adjusted for time elapsed. An "Average Hours per Jobs Created" goal can be fully met at any point in the year, so Neoserra shouldn't treat 75% of the goal as on track just because 75% of the year has passed.

Tip: When calculating averages on your scorecard layout, it is important to change the value of the "Goal Target" field from the "Relative to time elapsed" option to the "Absolute (doesn't take time elapsed into consideration)" option.

Displaying a Goal Set on Dashboard

Any goal set can be set to display on a user's Neoserra dashboard at login. The dashboard always shows the graphical version of the scorecard.

To add a goal set to your dashboard, you need scorecard edit permissions:

1. Go to Manage|Scorecards|Goal Sets and open the goal set.
2. In the right-hand margin, link your user account to the goal set. One goal set can be assigned to many users, and each user can have several goal sets. For example, you could show your personal goals, your center's goals and your network-wide goals on the dashboard at the same time, plus scorecards for other programs your organization offers.

   

You can also unlink a goal set from a user's dashboard here, or the user can unlink a dashboard themselves using the "Unlink" command at the top of each goal set on the dashboard page:

If the user has more than one goal set displayed on their dashboard, then they can choose the order they appear in from their personal preferences:

And, of course, remember that more than two goal sets on your dashboard will display in their collapsed format initially, unless you expand them all:

Note: Every night, OutreachSystems runs all goal sets that are assigned to dashboards. This means the scorecards you see at login are always based on data less than 24 hours old.

Want more? Browse our extensive list of Neoserra FAQs.