Growing a business can be fun, especially for those sales leaning, goal oriented and visionary type leaders. Creating a business involves quick decisions, a fast cadence and sequentially growing numbers, which could leave those following visionary type leaders wondering which way to run. It is the sales-type CEOs that don’t want to slow down for the details, because let’s face it: That slows everything. But we know by neglecting those details, jobs become much harder.
In order to combat neglecting the details, I highly recommend reading the book “Scaling Up” by Verne Harnish. In recent years our team, myself included, have benefited immensely from reading this book.
Two of the most relevant aspects of this book that have helped our team are the one-page job scorecards and the concept of a huddle. We have adapted these aspects to make sure our staff members know exactly what they are doing (and when). With this process, we are able to tame visionary type leaders and make sure small details don’t slip through the cracks.
The one-page job scorecard is a brief document that includes a job mission and a list of values associated with the job. We also map out the KPIs to create a framework for what we vision as a win or a loss for each project or the position as a whole. With this process, there is no doubt as to what the staff member’s position is. With that being said, if the position changes, we alter the one-page scorecard to stay on track. As you can see, this process is more dynamic than a project description that is filed away forever. It explicitly gives up-to-date information and clear direction for the staff member.
With email overload stifling teams, daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly huddles are key. These huddles allow you to break open the communication channels and make sure everyone is on track. We use a free app called “WhatsApp” to create functional groups. Within these groups we share talking points in which we’d like to bring up at our next huddle. Once a huddle happens (whether that be daily, weekly or monthly), we use these talking points to make sure all team members are up to speed on projects and all questions have been addressed. We recommend you allocate the following times for each huddle: 10-minute daily huddle, 20-minute weekly huddle and 45-minute monthly huddle. Setting a rhythm for these huddles is key, while being disciplined is even more paramount.
You will be amazed by how less frequently your team will email back and forth, and how much better you will be at communicating, by implementing these aspects.
Emmett Williams is president and co-founder of MYZONE. He has built and scaled five fitness businesses over the last 15 years. He believes that systems run business, but people run systems, and a focus on people and process can be as much a competitive advantage as price or product. He can be reached at emmett.williams@myzone.org.
