Someplace between $5M and $25M, most companies hit the wall, and executives feel like they’re running in place – no matter what they do to try and grow their businesses.

“From 50 employees up…the success of a firm is determined by the extent to which the senior team can grow the next level of leadership, and teach them in turn to predict and delegate (and manage) effectively,” writes Verne Harnish in “Mastering the Rockefeller Habits”.

But predicting, delegating and managing effectively takes more than talent.  As I wrote last week, you need a robust accountability system that rests on three key components components…starting with solid meeting rhythms.

The other two components? 

1) Clearly define mutual expectations with every employee with measurable outcomes.

“Do I know what is expected of me?” is a question that everyone in your organization ought to be able to answer clearly and concisely, without hesitation.  The Gallup organization has spent millions of dollars developing their Q12 instrument that measures employee engagement and correlating the results from those questions to increased revenues, profitability, and customer satisfaction.  If your team doesn’t know what’s expected OR aren’t able to articulate the outcomes that they need to get in order to get an ‘A’, you have a problem.  Almost everyone knows what a SMART goal is but how many of you are setting them for yourself?  Or your employees?

And what happens if they actually reach their goals and achieve their objectives?  How many of you are celebrating people’s first quarter results right now?

2) Create a sense of urgency with individual 90 Day plans that tie back to the company’s annual and Quarterly plans.

“A quarter is a 13 week race,” is one of my favorite Verne Harnish quotes and it’s one that should be on every CEO’s wall.  For most human beings, thinking beyond the next few weeks, or even the next few days, can be very challenging.  Very few of us are planners and many of us struggle with the 24/7 demands of our lives and our “advanced” technological devices.  Having yearly goals and outcomes defined is certainly necessary for a planning process and to get your team aligned but it’s not sufficient to keep your team on track as they’re bombarded day to day – and hour to hour – with distractions and conflicting messages.  As one of my clients has said, “Plans are great but the work gets in the way”.

Thus – the need to look at everyone’s plans at least every 90 days and set goals that can be measured weekly, if not daily.  And everyone should be looking at the plan (their own and their company’s) at least every week and reporting in on whether they’re on track, off track or God forbid, don’t know.  If your team can’t answer the question, “What are my top 4 or 5 priorities this week?”– every week, you’re losing the race.

If you’re ready to introduce some new “accountability” habits into your company, take advantage of our upcoming “Four Decisions: Mastering the Rockefeller Habits” workshop coming up on June 13th!  Get more info here: https://bit.ly/YLRwIS.

You’ll learn more about accountability, alignment and get the tools you need to create a more sustainable and profitable company AND an engaged and committed team!

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,