Worksheet: Have each leader sign a number

Leaders who agree in the room and reopen their targets in private sink more programmes than anything else. This sheet turns agreement into a signed number and one early hard call. It builds the Competent step of the check:

Each leader has signed up to their own target in writing, and at least one hard call (a closure, an exit, a role change) has been made rather than deferred.

Step 1. Hear the worries first

Ask each leader privately what worries them. The same four come up in most programmes. Answer each one before asking for a signature.

Worry	Leader 1	Leader 2	Leader 3	Leader 4	Leader 5	Our answer
Will I be held to these numbers?
Will this be replaced by the next initiative?
The benefits come in later years
Do I have the people and the skills?

Step 2. The signed targets

Leader	Target ($m or measure)	By when	What they need from others	Signed	Date
e.g. Operations director	$3.2m cost, run rate	30 June	Two analysts for three months	Yes	14 March

Step 3. The hard calls

List the hard calls the programme will need. Make one in the first month and announce it.

Hard call (closure, exit, role change)	Who decides	Planned date	Made on	If deferred, why

Watch for the leader who says yes in the meeting and does nothing after it. Raise it with them in the first month.

Under 50 people: each leader still signs their own target. The hard call might be ending a product or changing a role.

Done when: every leader has a signed target, and one hard call has been made and announced.

Adapted from our own programme design method (PSP, 2007).