Diagnostic
RAG Company Status
A simple red-amber-green status board for objectives, key results and company health — so the founder can see where to rove and repair.
Use this in OKR reviews, leadership meetings and monthly business reviews when updates are getting too narrative. The board forces the conversation to start with the signal: what is green, what is amber, what is red, and what needs a decision.
This is different from Team Traffic Lighting. Team Traffic Lighting rates the team itself; RAG Company Status rates progress against agreed goals. Pair them when you need both questions answered: is the team healthy, and are the outcomes moving?
The board
| Field | What it captures |
|---|---|
| Squad / area | The part of the company being reviewed: user growth, sales, product, hiring, runway, operations. |
| Purpose | One sentence for what this area exists to achieve this period. |
| Objective | The direction of travel — ideally pulled from the quarter's OKRs. |
| Key results | The measurable outcomes that prove the objective is moving. |
| Status columns | Mid-period and end-period traffic lights, or whatever cadence your operating rhythm uses. |
Example: user growth
Purpose: position the new product story and grow active users.
| Objective | Key results | Mid-period | End-period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Create the next-period optimisation strategy and roadmap | Activation plan in place; roadmap features and tests ready to start development | Amber | Not reviewed yet |
| Redesign the signup flow and logged-in homepage for the new brand | Both ready for launch | Amber | Not reviewed yet |
| Launch and test in-product education cards | Cards live; impact understood; learnings applied to the roadmap | Green | Not reviewed yet |
How to run it
Start with the colour
Each owner reports green, amber or red before explanation. No slide-story first; status against goal first.
Ask what changed
What evidence moved the colour since the last check-in? What did we learn? What is the forecast if nothing changes?
Separate support from intervention
Green usually gets space. Amber gets support, a decision or a constraint removed. Red gets founder attention, a reset or a trade-off.
Close with commitments
Every amber or red line leaves with an owner, next action and date. Open the next review with those commitments.
The colour is not a grade. It is a routing signal. A red reported early with a plan is healthier than a green that survives only because nobody asked the hard question.
Source / credit
Outstride adaptation of common RAG reporting
Related capabilities
Related tools
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