Most leadership teams are overwhelmed, tired and too busy just keeping up with their day to day routines to think about the future. Leaders who don’t take time to think about the business outside of busy work and meetings have a difficult time solving problems and aren’t able to lead as well as others who take a “time out” on a regular basis. As business coaches, or EOS Implementers™ teach, if you aren’t taking a regular Clarity Break™, you’ll have difficult envisioning the future and your leadership skills will be limited.
Component: Traction
The Weekly Meeting Pulse: Managing the Heartbeat of the Business
Once a leadership team has set their quarterly priorities and annual goals, it’s important to stay focused and working towards the shared goals for the business. The Weekly Meeting Pulse helps companies do this by providing an opportunity to ensure that everything is on track for the week, which in turn ensures that everything stays on track for the quarter.
The Quarterly Meeting Pulse: Keeping Your Team On Track
Creating a “90-Day World” for the business that supports the vision and keeps leadership teams on track is critical to long-term success, yet it’s something that many organizations haven’t learned. The 90-Day World concept is based on the belief that human beings will stumble, get off track and lose focus approximately every 90 days. Business coaches and EOS Implementers™ find that it’s common for leadership teams and others to come out of a big meeting feeling accomplished and prepared to complete the next challenges at hand. They have clearly defined goals and responsibilities and have a renewed laser focus on the organization. Fast-forward to 90 days later and business owners begin to notice that the leadership team is starting to wander off track, making it difficult to get on the same page about even the smallest issues. This is a normal cycle in life and in business, but implementing the Quarterly Meeting Pulse can help overcome these challenges and get everyone back on track.
Getting Down to Business: Establishing Rocks for Your Organization
Once leadership teams have reviewed their completed Vision/Traction Organizer™ (V/TO™) and determined the 3 to 7 top goals for the business, it’s time to get down to defining the main priorities for the quarter. Establishing your rocks sometimes involves an intense discussion and debate that ultimately condenses the list of all the things that can be done into the top 3-7 priorities. It may seem like an impossible task when you are first jumping into it, but after a healthy discussion with your team and a clear focus on the overall goals for the business, the right priorities will become crystal clear.
Setting Your Rocks: How to Manage the Next 90 Days of the Business
Once a leadership team has completed The Vision Component™, it’s time to list the short-term tasks that will contribute to achieving their vision. These priorities, or “Rocks”, are the 3-7 priorities you’ll focus on for the next 90 days. Instead of being overwhelmed with how to accomplish the big stuff by only looking at annual goals, breaking everything down into a “90 Day World” helps goals and priorities become much more manageable. Breaking down goals into bite-size chunks, or Rocks, leaves teams free to focus on what is most important. This increased intensity and focus on clear goals is what helps leadership teams gain traction on the business.
I Have This Rock…
I have this Rock… and now I can see that I really need to do something else instead. Can I just not do that Rock?