Four Ways to Bring Order to Your House

compartmentalize

Let’s face it. As business owners and entrepreneurs, we juggle multiple priorities, projects, challenges, and opportunities every day. It can be an overwhelming life that drains energy and diverts our focus.

As an EOS® Implementer, I help my clients bring some order to their house. One of my clients loves systems, but he never found a satisfactory one to keep track of all the stuff he and his team had to manage every day.

So his desktop was a jumble of lists, sticky notes, books open to specific pages, files, and empty coffee cups that eventually spilled over onto the floor around his desk. He honestly admitted he was no longer sure what color the top of his desk was!

When we started talking about Annual Goals, Quarterly Rocks, and short and long term Issues Lists, his eyes glazed over. Conceptually, he understood the importance and simplicity of each of these tools. But he also saw them turning into a larger stack of sticky notes on his desk.

It was time to teach him and his Leadership Team how to compartmentalize. This is a very effective discipline that helps Leadership Teams execute better, become more efficient, and focus the team’s energy. Compartmentalizing gives them a place to park all the lists and priorities they now juggle every day.

There are four compartments that get the house in order:

Compartment #1: Annual Goals – the three to seven absolute priorities for the year

Compartment #2: Quarterly Rocks – the three to seven priorities for the next 90 days

Compartment #3: Weekly To Do List – the weekly action items you track in your weekly Leadership Team meetings

Compartment #4: Issues List – Long term issues, problems, ideas, and opportunities that you will get to at some point, but not this quarter, go on the Issues List on your V/TO. Short term issues, problems, and ideas that must be solved this quarter go on your weekly Leadership Team meeting Issues List. And departmental issues are addressed by the appropriate department during their weekly team meetings.

This is a simple system that everyone can follow. It gives you the necessary breathing room and reduces stress. And now you can discover once again what color the top of your desk is.

Do you need help compartmentalizing responsibilities in your company? If so, contact us. We can help.

About EOS®

EOS® is a holistic management system with simple tools that help you do three things we call vision, traction, healthy. Vision from the standpoint of first getting your leaders 100% on the same page with where your organization is going. Traction from the standpoint of helping your leaders to become more disciplined and accountable, executing really well to achieve every part of your vision. Healthy meaning helping your leaders to become a healthy, functional, cohesive leadership team.