I have written about a company’s Accountability Chart and Core Processes in previous blogs.

Your Accountability Chart defines your organization’s structure. It creates absolute clarity around what needs to get done, who is going to do it, and how accountability is going to flow between and among the seats in that chart to ensure it happens. An Accountability Chart gives you the truth about your company if you get it right. And the right structure will bring the right questions to the surface.

Core Processes are conceptual sequences of events that enable people in a business to do what they do. Your company has a handful of Core Processes that will create consistency and peace of mind throughout your organization when they are documented, simplified, and followed by everyone.

Think about five questions when you create your Core Processes:

1. Why do we do this?
2. When does the process begin?
3. When is the process complete? What is the specific, tangible deliverable?
4. What can we measure to know if the process worked well or poorly?
5. What’s the handoff? Who gets the deliverable and what do they do with it?

Why am I reminding you about your Accountability Chart and Core Processes today? Because there is a great connection between these two tools.

Think about a sports team you like—i.e.: football, soccer, baseball, basketball, etc. Now envision where the athletes stand on their respective field, and what position they play. Each position is their seat on the Accountability Chart—it is the team’s structure as they prepare to play the game.

Core Processes are what happens when the ball is in play. Each quarterback, pitcher, third baseman, point guard, etc. consistently follows a prescribed series of steps as they play the game. Core Processes are your playbook.

Connecting these two tools may help you see the value of each one.

Have you defined your Core Processes or finalized your Accountability Chart? Creating them is the first step, and connecting them is the second. If you’ve approached a bump in the road and need to talk it through with someone who knows the tools inside and out, let’s schedule a call. You can pick my brain with no obligation simply by filling out the consult form below.

I hope to talk with you soon about developing these tools, and show you how connecting them can make a powerful impact on your business.

Dan Sullivan, founder of Strategic Coach says, “Your procrastination is inner wisdom that tells you the goal is really great, but you’re not the one to do it.”

Sounds rather counterintuitive, doesn’t it? Well, actually it isn’t. You may find yourself committed to a new opportunity or a Rock that is exciting and clearly designed to achieve great things for your company and your team. Yet you may be wondering how you are going to accomplish it. Perhaps there are some aspects that are not quite your skill set. Perhaps there are some aspects that you absolutely do not like to do. That is when procrastination sets in.

If you are working in an organization, there is probably someone on your team who is great at the task you are procrastinating. Have a chat with that person; they may thoroughly enjoy and easily accomplish what you will postpone.

When you take advantage of someone else’s capability by enlisting them to perform an activity that takes you closer to your sweet spot, you add value to that person. You’re telling them how they can be incredibly important and useful in the organization. You also give that person a chance to multiply their abilities.

Perhaps you are a solo entrepreneur as I am, and you cannot occupy all the seats on your Accountability Chart. This is the time when you need to rely on others to ensure you remain focused on what you do best—i.e.: your sweet spot. 

At PureDirection, I rely on several experts to do what I either dislike doing or for which I have limited knowledge or skill and (gasp!) don’t want to learn. If you read my blog posts, you have been introduced to a colleague who edits my blog (I sometimes misorder paragraphs), adds the finishing touches, and corrects my grammatical and typographical errors. And then she posts the blog with unfailing precision to my website. Were it not for Laurie Zinn at Line-By-Line, LLC, I would not blog if I had to do the hard work myself.

Who can you rely on to eliminate your procrastination?

If you’d like to talk about your Rocks, your Accountability Chart, or how to delegate the tasks that aren’t in your sweet spot, please use the consult form below to schedule a free call with me. As an EOS Implementer™ and business owner, I have experienced procrastination and understand the impact it can have on you and your business. Let’s figure out together what you are best at, and delegate the rest to someone who shines in that space. You’ll turn your procrastination into productivity, and focus your time where you will truly move the needle in your business.

Here we are at the final stage of organizational change—new beginning. In the first two parts of this series, we discussed how a Leadership Team and an entire organization may initially feel a sense of loss as EOS^®is introduced, and with time everyone will enter the neutral zone where learning starts to take place.

The new beginning is the point at which people understand EOS^®, and the tools make sense and are in use throughout the organization. Everyone understands the organization’s Core Values, the Vision, how the organization will achieve that Vision, and their respective role in moving the organization forward. 

In the new beginning stage, the organization has accepted EOS^®as its operating system, and the Leadership Team’s mind is more at ease. The organization is more fun—and more profitable. Keep in mind people will periodically get stuck, hit a stumbling block—it’s only natural as we learn new material. Be sure to reinforce teaching where needed, without any sense of criticism.

It’s important to remember that each person will move through the stages of organizational change at their own pace. The organizations that receive the intended value from EOS^®are those that internalize every aspect of EOS^®, and that takes time.

How much time? I can’t tell you how much time. There is no specific date to which a Leadership Team or an organization can point and say “Aha, we have operationalized EOS^®.”

EOS^®is a process, and you often need the support of someone who knows the system to guide you through the phases and to hold you accountable. That’s where an EOS Implementer™ comes in. We help you see the value of EOS^®and how it can work in your company, and we stand by your side and cheer you on when you accomplish your goals.

If you have any questions about EOS^®, the three stages of organizational change, or how to implement it in your organization, please fill out the consult form below to request a free, 15-minute phone consultation with me. When you progress through the EOS^®process, your company will have a new beginning.

You and your entire organization are now well on your way to harmoniously orchestrating the Six Key Components™ of EOS^®. Congratulations!

In Progressing Through EOS Part 1, we discussed the first stage of managing organizational change—letting go. The takeaway I hope you recognized is that change often represents itself to us as a loss. It may manifest as a loss of identity or that life as we know it at the company is gone.

This week we will address the second stage of managing organizational change—the neutral zone. This stage is characterized by uncertainty—the former is disappearing; yet our new way of operating isn’t fully implemented. The future may feel unknown, there is a new language being spoken that isn’t fully understood, or perhaps we don’t understand how we fit into the new future.

It is during this stage that I see Leadership Teams start to master the EOS^®tools, start speaking the same language, and start getting 100% on the same page. And Leadership Teams will see their teams develop in the same way.

Here are some ideas about how best to help everyone manage this stage:

• Continue to listen to understand—be sure you are not listening to vote
• Involve everyone in the process
• Celebrate as people begin mastering EOS^®tools, speaking the new language, mentoring their peers
• Keep reinforcing the message—repeat, repeat, repeat
• Perhaps additional team meetings would be appropriate to flush out issues, identify stumbling blocks, or simply listen

Leadership Teams and their organizations initially focus on the mechanics of the EOS^®tools, which makes perfect sense. The Leadership Teams and organizations that internalize EOS^®reach a highpoint where everyone understands “why” the tool exists. That is when organizations fully understand and experience the value EOS^®brings to their organization.

Progressing through EOS^®is not for the faint of heart, but it’s a process that yields big results. Do you have questions about implementing EOS^®in your company? Or are you in the throes of it and want to talk it through with someone who understands? If so, I invite you to use the contact form below to request a free consultation with me. As an EOS Implementer™, I help my clients let go, get through the neutral zone and prepare the way for a new beginning. And I can get you pointed in the right direction.

Today’s blog is the first in a three-part series describing the stages organizations and their Leadership Teams go through as they implement EOS^®.

I recently read Managing Transitions by William Bridges, Ph.D. and Susan Bridges. The book describes how to manage the human side of organizational change. It is the perfect explanation of what I see happening as Leadership Teams master the EOS^®tools, and the responses they may receive when rolling out EOS^®to their organization.

On page 5 in Managing Transitions, the authors describe three stages through which your entire team will progress as you roll out EOS^®:

Stage 1 – letting go

Stage 2 – neutral zone

Stage 3 – new beginning

Today, let’s discuss letting go. I challenge Leadership Teams to change their corporate behavior, to look at their company in new ways, and to fight for the greater good of the organization. 

Change is never easy, and it varies person to person. For the CEO, it may mean relinquishing some of the hats that person has been wearing for many years. It may mean a new role for a team member who moves into a new seat.

It is not uncommon for Leadership Teams to notice employees who seem disinterested, or express surprise and dismay when they first hear their leaders are implementing EOS^®.

Responses of this nature make perfect sense when we recognize people may feel threatened by change—they may feel they are losing their identity—that life as they know it at the company is gone. 

So how do you manage this phase? Here are some suggestions for your consideration:

• Accept what people say—do not debate
• Give people time—your Leadership Team learned EOS^®over the course of several months; be patient and give people the opportunity to learn and ask questions just as your Leadership Team did
• Recognize people are reacting to what they see as a loss, not the actual change
• Keep reinforcing the message—repeat, repeat, repeat
• Help people understand the opportunities that will become available within the organization
• Make sure each member of the Leadership Team presents the same information throughout the organization

I will leave you with a quote from page 117 in Managing Transitions: “Stability through change demands clarity about who you are and what you are trying to do. That is the starting point.”

If you or a member of your organization is having trouble letting go or is resisting the EOS^®process, it might be helpful to talk it through with someone who has been there. I am an EOS Implementer™, but I am also a business owner who implemented EOS^®in my former company. I’ve walked in your shoes, and I’d be happy to share my unique perspective with you—especially when it comes to resisting change and letting go.

Please fill out the consult form below to set up a free 15-minute obligation-free phone conversation with me. I am a great sounding board, and could help you figure out the best way to let go and move your business forward with EOS^®.