EOS, Entrepreneurial Operating System, has gained quite a bit of traction in the business world (do you see what I did there?) and for good reason. While much of EOS, and the writing and thinking around it, focuses on the broad strategic aspects this essay will focus on some tactical aspects of what I consider to be a key part: the Level 10 Meeting (L10).
As we all know the L10 meeting is the executive leadership meeting held weekly to keep the EOS process on track. Without reviewing the aspects of the L10 Meeting – there are plenty of places to read about that – let us discuss some of the more tactical approaches to getting the most out of the L10 meeting.
“The will to win is not nearly so important as the will to prepare to win.” Vince Lombardi
As Coach Lombardi says, the key to a good L10 meeting is to have the will, to make the time and the effort, to have a good meeting. Here are some preparations that will make L10 meetings a true win for all involved:
Notes from the L10 meeting: Immediately after the L10 meeting one (optimally the Integrator but it could be another) needs to write out notes from the meeting. These notes should be in journal as opposed to minutes format and should include:
Narrative of what took place
Level of involvement or interaction by all participating members
Thought provoking or out-of-the-ordinary quotes or paraphrases that were said
Particularly positive or negative expressions from the meeting
Particularly meaningful segues
Follow up on the To Dos: two of three days after the L10 meeting, set aside some time to talk to each person who had a To Do assigned to them. Do not send them an email but call them, video chat with them or go and physically talk to them. Ask them how they are doing. Ask them how you can help. Ask them what is blocking them. Get them to talk – and then listen. They own the To Do – but the team as a whole is responsible for completing them. Be part of the team that gets them done.
Review the Issues List: read each one of them; read the journals from prior L10 meetings to get perspective on the Issues. Think about them without any prior bias. Discretely do some digging in the business around the Issue and gain as much insight as you can. Prepare a list of provocative questions about the Issue and have it ready in case it is processed in the next L10. Do the leg-work ahead of the processing – don’t cleverly wing it during the processing.
Help crack some Rocks: set aside some time to have one on one time with each Rock owner. As with To Dos and Issues be up to speed before you have the conversations. Have questions ready, have facts in hand, empower the Rock owners and let them talk. We have all heard the “you have one mouth and two ears so use them in that proportion” and it is fun to tell other people but live the quote. Cracking Rocks often has a lot to do with To Dos and Issues.
Spend time with the Scorecard: don’t let the data just be a “green / yellow / red” signal; read the trend. Analyze the rate of change in the metrics over time. Take time to understand what they really mean. Gather the data you need to help put those Scorecard metrics on trial at the next quarterly EOS meeting with your Implementor.
Prepare your segue: the reason that this part of the meeting comes first is psychological. The segue focuses all the attendees on the here and the now. If someone digs deep and gets vulnerable at the beginning of the meeting the effect will carry through for the whole meeting. Vulnerability invites communication, empathy and clarity. If no one can be counted upon to give a deep segue then you have to.
Get there early, anticipate the technology snafus and start on time: expect the camera to be pointed in the wrong direction, things to be unexpectedly unplugged, and the flat screen to be on HDMI3 not HDMI1. Leave enough time to have it all sorted out and then to be ready, prepared – and relaxed – to start the L10 meeting.
We do all of this for the same reason we have the L10 meeting: we are successful when every attendee rates that meeting a true 10.
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