TL;DR:
Say-Do Ratio = (Completed ÷ Promised) × 100. Please monitor your commitments in comparison to what you actually complete. Target 85-90% for individuals, 80-90% for teams. Don’t count unplanned work or change commitments mid-period. Common mistakes: scope creep inflation, moving targets, the perfectionist trap, and unfair comparisons. Leverage it as a learning opportunity rather than assigning blame. Begin with a straightforward approach: outline 3-5 weekly commitments, monitor their completion, calculate the ratio, and make adjustments for the following week. The goal is progress and building trust through reliable follow-through.
You know that awful feeling when someone asks you about the project you said you’d finish last week? Yes, we’ve all been there. Most of us don’t want to admit that the gap between what we say we’ll do and what we actually do is bigger than we think.
Do you know that you can actually measure this gap? The Say-Do Ratio is what it’s called, and once you start keeping track of it, you’ll never see commitments the same way again.
What Is the Say-Do Ratio, Exactly?
You could think of it as your own score for being reliable. The Say-Do Ratio tells you how well you keep your word. Your ratio is 80% if you say you’ll do 10 things and only do 8. Simple math gives you powerful insights.
The beauty lies in its simplicity:
- 100% means you’re a commitment machine.
- 80–90%: Pretty good, but there’s room for improvement.
- Below 70% = Time to think about things seriously
How to Calculate Your Say-Do Ratio?
This is the formula, and it’s an easy one
Say-Do Ratio = (Number of Commitments Completed ÷ Number of Commitments Made) × 100
That’s all. You don’t need to do any complicated math or use fancy spreadsheets.
How to Calculate the Say-Do Ratio in 4 Steps
- List your promises:What did you commit to this week/month/sprint?
- Count completions: How many did you actually finish?
- Do the math: Divide completed by total commitments
- Convert to percentage: Multiply by 100 for easy reading
Ready to boost your team’s accountability? Start tracking your Say-Do Ratio today
What are some real-life examples of Say-Do Ratio?
Example 1: The Overcommitted Manager
Sarah promised her team five things this week:
- Complete budget review (Done)
- Hire a new developer (still interviewing)
- Update project timeline (Done)
- Present to stakeholders (Done)
- Fix the coffee machine (still broken, still angry employees)
Sarah’s Say-Do Ratio: 3 ÷ 5 = 0.6 or 60%
Ouch. Sarah’s learning that saying yes to everything means delivering on nothing.
Example 2: The Agile Team Champion
A development team committed to 25 story points in their two-week sprint. They completed 23 points.
Team’s Say-Do Ratio: 23 ÷ 25 = 0.92, or 92%
This team’s crushing it. They’re predictable, reliable, and probably sleep well at night.
Example 3: The Scope Creep Situation
The marketing team’s original commitment: 8 campaign assets. What they completed from the original list, 8 assets. Bonus work, they squeezed in 4 additional social posts.
Here’s where it gets tricky. You might think, “We did 12 things when we promised 8, that’s 150%!”
Wrong. The Say-Do Ratio only counts original commitments.
Correct calculation: 8 ÷ 8 = 1.0, or 100%
The extra work is great, but it doesn’t inflate your reliability score.
What are some of the complicated situations in Say-Do Ratio calculations?
How the weighted commitment matters is explained with this sample.
Not all promises carry the same weight. Let’s say you’re a project manager who commits to:
- Send weekly update email (Low effort, high frequency)
- Complete client proposal (High effort, high impact)
- Organize team lunch (Medium effort, nice-to-have)
If you nail the proposal but skip the email, your raw ratio might be 67%. But the proposal was worth way more to your business. Smart teams weigh their commitments by importance or effort.
Your Say-Do Ratio = (Commitments Completed ÷ Commitments Made) × 100. Simple math that reveals if you’re building trust or breaking it. Aim for 85-90% for the sweet spot between ambition and reliability.
How the context matters is explained in the Pivot Story example
Your team committed to building Feature A, but halfway through the sprint, the CEO says , “Actually, we need Feature B instead.”
You deliver Feature B perfectly, but what’s your Say-Do Ratio?
- Technical answer: 0% (you didn’t deliver what you originally committed to.)
- Practical answer: 100% (This is why context matters more than the number.)
What Good Ratios Actually Look Like
Not every team should aim for a perfect 100%. In fact, that can be a red flag, either people are sandbagging (only committing to the easiest work) or the team isn’t pushing themselves enough
| Scenario | Healthy Say-Do Ratio | Why This Range Works |
|---|---|---|
| Individual contributors | 85–95% | Shows strong reliability on routine tasks without sandbagging. |
| Teams in stable environments | 80–90% | Predictable work → consistency matters more than perfection. |
| Teams doing experimental work | 70–80% | Innovation involves risk; misses = learning, not failure. |
| New teams still figuring things out | 60–75% | Early trial-and-error phase; the goal is steady improvement over time. |
Remember: 100% might mean you’re not being ambitious enough.
What numbers should always worry you?
Not all Say-Do Ratios are good news. In fact, some numbers should raise red flags immediately:
| Scenario | Unhealthy Say-Do Ratio | Why This Range Will Not Work |
|---|---|---|
| More than 95% | Worry Zone | Possible sandbagging, commitments are too easy, lacking stretch. |
| Less than 60% | Worry Zone | Overcommitting or poor planning; credibility and trust at risk. |
| Wild swings (20% one week, 95% the next) | Worry Zone | Inconsistency signals planning or alignment issues; commitments shouldn’t feel like a coin toss. |
What numbers should always worry you?
The Easy Weekly Method
Every Monday, write down what you plan to do this week. Every Friday, mark off what you’ve done. Find out your ratio. Five minutes.
The Dashboard for Teams
Use any project management tool you already have, like Trello, Jira, or Asana. Keep track of initial promises and finished work. Most tools can do this math on their own.
The Monthly Reflection
Don’t worry too much about daily ratios. Check out the trends over the course of a month. Are you getting better? Where are the patterns?
How to Avoid Common Mistakes in Math in Say-Do Ratio Calculations
Here are the pitfalls to watch out for when calculating or interpreting Say-Do Ratio:
| No | Mistake | Impact |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Counting unplanned work | Inflates the ratio, gives a false sense of performance. |
| 2 | Ignoring scope changes | Creates inconsistent or misleading calculations. |
| 3 | Focusing only on outputs | Misses whether value was actually delivered. |
| 4 | Gaming the metric (under-promising) | Erodes transparency and ambition. |
| 5 | Using ratio for blame | Reduces psychological safety, discourages honesty. |
| 6 | Comparing across very different projects | Leads to unfair or misleading conclusions. | 7 | Overemphasizing perfect estimation | Wastes time, hurts team morale. |
How can you make the numbers work for you?
It’s not the ratio that matters; it’s what you do with it that does.
Ask better questions:
- What stopped me from keeping that promise?
- Am I saying yes to too many things?
- Are my guesses getting better over time?
- What could help me be more trustworthy?
Look for patterns:
- Do you always miss deadlines on Fridays? (Maybe don’t make plans for Friday)
- Do you have trouble with complicated tasks? (Break them down even more)
- Do interruptions hurt your ratio? (Build time buffer)
Your Next Steps: Start simple. For the next two weeks
- Monday morning: Write down 3-5 things you’ll definitely complete this week
- Friday afternoon: Count how many you actually finished
- Calculate your ratio: Be honest, no fudging
- Ask yourself: What got in the way? What helped?
- Adjust: Make smarter commitments next week
Make changes: Next week, make better promises.
The goal isn’t to be perfect; it’s to make progress. And the first thing you need to do is figure out where you are.
The number of things you say and do is more than just a number. It shows you how much you respect your own word. And in a world where trust is money, that’s something to think about.
Ready to boost your team’s accountability?
It depends on context. For routine work, aim for 85-95%. For experimental or creative projects, 70-80% is solid. New teams learning together might start at 60-75%. If you’re consistently hitting 100%, you might be playing it too safe. Below 60% means it’s time for serious planning improvements.
No. Only count commitments you made upfront. If you committed to 5 tasks and completed those 5 plus 3 bonus tasks, your ratio is 100%, not 160%. The extra work is great, but it doesn’t inflate your reliability score.
Stick with your original commitments for the calculation, but note the context. If your boss says “drop everything for this emergency,” your ratio might drop, but that’s not a planning failure. Track these situations separately to understand patterns.
Weekly for individuals, per-sprint for agile teams (usually 1-2 weeks), monthly for longer-term projects. Don’t obsess over daily ratios—focus on trends over time.
Not necessarily terrible, but definitely overcommitting. Common causes: unrealistic planning, saying yes to everything, poor estimation skills, or too many interruptions. Start by cutting commitments in half and see if your ratio improves.
Absolutely. A senior developer doing routine features might target 90%, while a junior developer learning new tech might aim for 75%. Research teams might accept 60% because they’re exploring unknowns. Context beats one-size-fits-all targets.
This is called “sandbagging,” and it defeats the purpose. Look for patterns:Is someone consistently hitting 100% while others struggle? Are their commitments notably easier? Address this through team discussions about stretch goals and shared accountability.