In September of 2018, our CEO, Scott Young (CEO) received three independent recommendations over a seven-day period to read the book Traction. Within an hour of finishing the book, Scott started began searching for a professional coach to take our company through the two-year implementation cycle. Three weeks later, we had our coach and our first session with our coach, Ryan Giles of Traction Strong.
In short, EOS, the Entrepreneurial Operating System is a comprehensive business system, integrating a holistic business model with a complete set of simple business tools proven business process to align all the pieces of your business to produce the results you need. It pulls in key methodologies and concepts from business greats like Patrick Lencioni, Jim Collins and Verne Harnish. It has been a game changer for our team.
This move has advanced our firm in more ways than we can communicate on a few words on a web page. In short, we needed help building a solid middle management team, holding team members accountable, holding regular, laser-focused team meetings while building a world class team-centric culture. We are not the same company we were in the 4th quarter of 2018. Below is a basic outline of the key aspects of the concepts now present in our firm.
The Goal
- Gain Traction – increase communication, team health, and RESULTS!
- Set and achieve our Vision
The Accountability Chart
- Keep the company accountability chart updated and in-use (names and roles updated quarterly)
- Each member of the SLT (senior leadership team) must update their department quarterly
Rocks
- Every employee in the company will have at least one quarterly goal (Rock)
- This will be reviewed during the weekly L10 and during their 5-5-5
- Rock completion will be factored into each employee’s quarterly/annyual bonus
Meeting Pulse
- The SLT will hold weekly L10s, quarterly planning, and annual planning meetings
- The SLT will hold a quarterly planning meeting to align the next quarter’s goals with the annual and ten year plans
- The Visionary/Integrator will hold a monthly “same page” meeting
- Every member of the company may be in at least one L10 each week
- The entire company will gather for a monthly “all-hands” meeting
- Departments may hold daily huddles (standing meetings) if needed
Scorecard
- The SLT will maintain and update a weekly management scorecard
- Each department will maintain and update a weekly scorecard for their department
V/TO
- The V/TO (Vision/Traction Organizer) will be updated each quarter
- The V/TO will be shared with the entire company during our all-hands meetings
- Each member of the SLT should keep the V/TO visible and should take it on all clarity breaks
5-5-5s
- Each member of the SLT will have a 5-5-5 with each of their direct reports each quarter (think of this as a quarterly review versus a traditional annual review)
- Cover the employee’s Rock/s, Roles on the Accountability Chart, and Values
Clarity Breaks
- Each leader is strongly encouraged to take regular clarity breaks (away from the office)
Misc.
- During employee onboarding, new employees should read “What The Heck Is EOS?”, watch our EOS intro video, watch our “Finance 101” videos, and watch our Core Values Speech video
- Alternatively, team members can read an allegory-based book on EOS Traction titled “Get a Grip”
