Now that we’ve been through the first phase of Business disruption, do you and your Leadership Team need to sit down and revise your strategic plan for not only the rest of 2020, but perhaps a bit further down the road?
EOS® or the Entrepreneurial Operating System ® simplifies your companies vision into a two-page document called the V/TO® or the Vision /Traction Organizer®.
First question: What the heck is a V/TO? Answer: It is a simplified strategic planning tool, one so easy to understand, everyone in your organization will “Get it” on the first try. The Entrepreneurial Operating System® or EOS ® for short is a proven, holistic business operating system that I have taught for the last 6 years as a Certified EOS Implementer®.
Your company’s ability to simply define and communicate who they are, why they do what they do, and who they are gong to do it with make all of the difference with your team, most employees have an idea of where your company is going, but not a very clear one. This powerful document is updated and communicated at least every 90 days (More often is much better). If you are not sharing your vision on a quarterly basis, you are most definitely leaving some people in the dark.
I just finished up my end of Q2 quarterly sessions with all of my clients, during our quarterly review of their V/TO’s each client usually has a high level of confidence that their teams know what is on the document. After, all they have been show the document once or twice, so they should have it right?
WRONG! As my good friend Gino Wickman (Creator of EOS) would say SEVEN times before they here it for the very FIRST time… this is so true!
An interesting thing is whenever I quiz the leadership team on the contents of the document when it’s not right in front of us, they usually don’t do as well as they thought they would, and whenever one of my Leadership Team Members make a really bold statement like “My people know it cold!” I usually smile, and then pick up the phone while we are in session and call that leaders team, and find out of ourselves. Only once or twice in almost 30 some phone calls over the years has the employee been able to recite the main points from memory. Usually, it doesn’t go so well, and it points out another opportunity to socialize the document outside of the State of the Company Meeting that is held quarterly with your entire company.
So, I have two questions, first do you need to revise your vision, or stay the course, then secondly how are you going to communicate that newly sharpened or stay the course vision to you team, so they “Get it”?
There is so much uncertainty today, if you can provide some solid, concrete vision on who the company is, where the company is going, you will have a team that is more centered and focused on accomplishing the mission that you have communicated, not to mention that they will then have the option to op in out to opt out, either is great, employees in the middle (not knowing or caring why or what the company is ultimately up to) is what holds companies from achieving greatness.
Now is the time to get crystal clear on what your future should look like, then over communicate that to your team, once they are annoyed at you because you’ve communicated it seven times to them, congratulations they have heard it ONCE!
"If you don’t know where you are going, you might end of someplace else…"
-Yogi Berra
Chris Hallberg is one of INC Magazines Top 50 Leadership and Management Experts (#9), and a seasoned Certified EOS Implementer. Chris primarily works with Denver Based Leadership Teams live, or with leadership teams around the US using remote online sessions. Email Chris at chris@tractioninc.com to schedule a free 30 Minute Consultation.
The Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) was created by Gino Wickman (Author of Traction-get a grip on your business) and is a registered trademark of EOS Worldwide. Chris Hallberg of Traction Inc. is a Certified EOS Implementer™ that helps business owners and their leadership teams get more of what they want from their business.
www.tractioninc.com