Strategic Discipline Blog

Recently I rediscovered the value of routine when I purchased a new computer.  If you’ve had the occasion to move to a new computer recently perhaps you will recognize the disruptive forces that occur when suddenly you are without the use of your computer for several hours or in my case more than a day as your old data is restored to your new computer. 

At this time of year it’s very common to find people exhibiting high stress levels.  A trip for groceries, or to the hardware store, takes a bit longer due to long lines and depending on where you live the weather.

Every company talks about it, yet not many make the commitment and follow through.  That commitment is to training.  The monthly meeting is a structured, consistent discipline for training when following the agenda we suggest. 

There’s much more to the monthly meeting agenda, yet if it can accomplish one dedicated hour to improving your team’s education and learning it can reward your business many times over with improved efficiency and performance.

The Monthly Meeting should be held as soon as possible after the Financial Results are available from your Accounting Department. One of the most important aspects of the Monthly Meeting Cycle is to see how the organization is performing financially – in actuality – against Quarterly Priorities and Metrics.

The other primary aspect of the Monthly Meetings Rhythms is to spend some quality time evaluating progress on the Quarterly Priorities – and making decisions on any Corrective Actions that need to be taken, should performance not be tracking with the progress needed to deliver on all Accountabilities to the Plan from each SPA (Single Point of Accountability) – The WHO on the Who, What, When Accountability List.

When we speak of Mid-Course Adjustments, we are speaking of precisely that – WHAT is your Corrective Action to get your Accountability back on Plan? While there may be explanations offered in this environment, there can be no excuses for failing to deliver on one’s accountabilities to the Plan.

You will also want to devote time to one or two lengthier subjects of either Strategic or Tactical/Operational Issues. Pick an item or two which need an immediate and a wider level of discussion or discovery -- usually something that is taking shape as an Obstacle or a Chokepoint – and drill down on the subject, with the intention of advancing solutions to remove the obstacle or the chokepoint, before it begins eroding or affecting results.

This Meeting should run about 1-2 hours, and no more. Maintain focused discipline in managing the timeframe, and make every minute together count.”

Here’s our suggested agenda for the Monthly meeting:

• 15 Minutes -  Review Priorities and Last Meetings Actions.   

Every day, depending on the area you live in, you see this universal symbol telling you when to stop or go. As part of Strategic Discipline we expect our clients to provide metrics for their company, team and individual performance.  It’s a part of the weekly meeting agenda.  That might seem sufficient to provide accountability, yet when conducting meetings we feel it’s important to dispense with the numbers as quickly as possible in order to get to the meatier topics that can help the business build momentum.  The metrics need to communicate quickly whether success is being achieved or there’s work to be done.

Do we really need another weekly meeting?

Before moving to the agenda on weekly meetings I thought I should approach a question a lot of people have about meetings.  Why?  Why more meetings?

Do you wonder why your people are so frequently unaccountable to the results you expect?  How often are you asking them to be accountable to your expectations?

President Obama’s address on Tuesday reminded me of a blog I wrote on Is Life Fair.  This blog is not intended to support a political agenda, yet when I watched Obama’s presentation Tuesday evening it struck me how differently I and perhaps a lot of my clients and prospects view the role of government. 

Over the past week I’ve had the good fortune of working with a beverage distributor in my area.  We’ve broken up the Two Day Rockefeller Habits Workshop into four half day sessions.  In our first half day we defined their organizational structure to identify the key seats in their organization, where, if any, there are multiple people in key seats and where are their empty key seats.  At the same time I’ve been reviewing Jim Collins’ How the Mighty Fall.  It’s reminded me of Collins emphasis from the Dallas Growth Summit Your Company Key Indicator for People - Corrections.

A common mistake in the recruiting and hiring process is to be unclear about who and what you are hiring for.  With every one of our growing clients, we recommend Topgrading methods to select the right employees.  It’s important to recognize that of the Four Decisions that impact your business growth, People are the critical first piece.  I remind you of Jim Collins words in Good to Great, “First who than what.”