Leaders! Please Share This in Your Next Company Meeting

How Long has it Been?

So..... it’s been awhile since your last company meeting. Has it been more than 90 days? A year? Yikes!

If you are a visionary leader, you probably have no lack of content, but when you deliver your messages are they all received? How come they just don't seem to get it?

If you are less visionary and more of an operator, you might have no clue what there is to talk about. You may tend to push off the meeting until 1) there is something to actually talk about and 2) you’re less “busy” – which will never happen.

4 Simple Steps to get Back on TrackHere is a template that will help visionaries bring it down to the ground and for operators to feel more inclined to get out there today.

First Step: Create 8 blank slides

Second Step: In each slide answer 1 of these 8 questions:

1. What are our Core Values?
   
2. What is our Core Focus™?
   
3. What is our 10-Year target™?
   
4. What is our marketing strategy?
   
5. What is our 3-Year Picture™?
   
6. What is our 1 year plan?
7. What are our 90 day rocks?
8. What is our Issues List?
   

Third Step: Pretty it up with graphics, employee photos, etc.

Fourth Step: Update and share every 90 days!

Stay the Course

Eye rolls: That’s normal, especially if you’ve been “trying a lot of things” lately. As you consistently return with same structure, they will go away quarter by quarter. After a year, they won’t remember how things operated before you introduced this update.

So you have “other things” you want to talk about: Great!...If they are important, they should easily tuck into 1 of the eight questions. If they don’t, consider sending an email or have a housekeeping section at the end.

Quarter 2 and 3 Hesitancy: If not a lot has changed since Q1, it’s so easy to skip the meeting for Q2. DON’T. Repetition is the mother of all learning and they likely have not completely “heard” everything from the first quarter. Review your responses to the 8 questions with your leadership team; likely there are small or major adjustments just waiting to be discovered. Spend more time with your company explaining those adjustments. If you still have no material adjustments, guess what? It’s likely that your staff prefers NO change, so they’re still happy! Quiz them…what are our core values? Give an unexpected reward.

Simple, but not Easy.  Here is Your Trouble Shooting Guide

So, now you say “Erik! This is not that easy, I’m stuck on step….”

Problems with Step 1? Use any template you want in PowerPoint or Keynote, and if you don’t have these tools grab a flipchart. Spend no more than 10 minutes here. Move on, you can get prettier at a later date. The content is what they want!

Problems with Step 2? Let’s agree to get this part right!

Likely Issue A: Your leadership team is not on the same page with the responses to the 8 questions. You need to address this today, because your entire company can sense it and getting there will not be overnight. Know that it may take as long as 90 days to get a strong vision, but once you are there….ohhh, imagine what your life will be like when your leadership team is no longer working in different directions or even against each other. When 100% of the company is on the same page, universal laws line up, and you will get there faster because everyone is focused in the same direction.

Here are some options to consider dependent upon your personal preference:

1. You should read Chapter 1 and 3 in Traction by Gino Wickman. Need a copy, I’ll give you one. Meet with your leadership team and answer the 8 questions through passionate debate.
2. I will meet with your entire leadership team for 90 minutes (at no cost) where we will review the 8 questions in a little more detail so that they understand the context and purpose. I will provide a Vision Traction Organizer to help organize your thoughts.

Likely Issue B: Your leadership team does not think that it’s important to address. Ahh, so they are “too busy” and doing the laundry list of things that people do when they are not on the same page. Maybe they’ll get to it when the “busy” goes away….unlikely. Here are a couple ideas to spark the interest.

1. Have them read Traction and give them one week to do it. It’s a quick read and you want them reading it at the same time. The team will collectively engage because it’s top of mind. Get the time on the calendar to answer the 8 questions. Start with 2 x 4 hour blocks and schedule a 3rd if necessary.
2. Do it yourself. Share with your leadership team. They’ll either: engage and agree (sweet!), engage and disagree (now you have their attention), or disengage. If you find disengagement, find yourself a new team (yes, I mean it the way you took it).

Likely Issue C: Your team is on the same page conceptually, but it’s not clear and concise. Can I get some more detail on the 8 questions? Be careful here, a lot of teams think they are on the same page until they go to write it down, but assuming you are on the same page, here are some quick notes help flesh out the 8 questions.

More Detail on the 8 Questions:

1. Pick 3 to 5 values that your leadership team reeks of
2. As a company decide a) what you love and b) what you are great at
3. Pick a goal 5 to 30 years out that is one sentence and wonderful
4. Agree on your perfect customer, obsess over what makes them perfect, identify 3 attributes that make you unique, create your guarantee (if any), and document your proven process (see my website for an example)
5. Create a picture 3 years from now with 5 to 15 bullets
6. Agree on 3-7 goals for the next year
7. Commit to 3-7 immovable rocks (goals) for the next 90 days
8. Get a grip by owning your issues. List them. Share them.

Want More?

1. More detail: Read the free e-book Decide! I can email this to you.
2. Even more detail: I will work with you for 90 minutes and we can flesh this out for you and give you a Vision/Traction Organizing tool.
3. Still more detail: Read Traction. Need a copy? I’ll give it to you.

Problems with Step 3? Skip it. The content is 99% of what they care about.

Problems with Step 4? Keep it simple. Concerned about the venue? Use the biggest open space you can find, even if it’s the kitchen or go outside and distribute it in paper form. Concerned about multiple locations: Open up an audio bridge for remote people, for the first session, they just need to hear you.

Attributes: The 8 Questions are just one of the tools in the Entrepreneurial Operating System® (EOS) created by Gino Wickman. EOS® is the operating system that I ran in my businesses for over ten years. I've lived this and it completely changed my professional life. Hopefully this tool helps you get what you want out of your business.