You have the best intentions. You write your annual business plan, and determine your objectives – all 36 of them. You leave a planning meeting energized, excited, and ready to conquer the world.
But something gradually happens, and it begins the moment you step foot out of the meeting. As the days turn into weeks, and the weeks turn into months, you slowly get distracted. Suddenly those big plans and ideas become buried under a pile of in-the-moment emergencies and rigors of day-to-day events. Before you know it, you’ve lost sight of that terrific business plan you wrote.
If this has happened to you, you are not alone. Humans naturally lose focus and get off track after about 90 days. It happens to other business owners, your friends, and your family members, in both their personal and professional lives, no matter how driven or motivated they are.
But you can get a leg up on your competition by getting control of it, staying ahead of it, and conquering it with the Entrepreneurial Operating System™ (EOS).
EOS’s Answer: The 90-Day World
EOS gives our clients tools to fight against the natural loss-of-focus tendency. We help by implementing a routine that creates a 90-day world for your company. We create this 90-day world first for the leadership team, and once they master it, we create the same 90-day world throughout the entire company.
We begin by breaking down your annual goals into Rocks. Rocks are clear, 90-day priorities that serve as smaller milestones for your business. Rocks create a short list of priorities that you must accomplish in the next 90 days if you intend to achieve your one-year plan.
EOS also helps you stay on task by introducing a weekly Level 10 Meeting Agenda. The meeting is held on the same day and time each week, with a specific agenda of reporting your progress on your Rocks.
Also part of EOS’s 90-Day World is the Quarterly Meeting Pulse. This is when the leadership team gets together at the end of 90 days to look back at how they did, make sure the leadership team is still on the same page with the company vision, and establish the company and individual rocks for the next 90 days. It is expected that at each quarterly meeting, at least 80% of the company and individual Rocks will be achieved.
Quarterly meetings should take place off site, so as to avoid any distractions in the office. You should hold your quarterly meetings even when things are going well and you don’t feel you need to. That just means the process is working, so don’t lose your momentum. As soon as you take your foot off the gas, you’ll coast to a stop.
Once you have set your Rocks, your Level 10 Meetings, and your Quarterly Meeting Pulse, put your head down, go to work, review, and repeat. You will be well on your way to staying focused, accomplishing your yearly goals, and taking your business to the next level – all while your competitors are putting out daily fires.
Does your business need help staying focused and on track? 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.
