Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business

by Gino Wickman

Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) identifies Six Key Components of any organization.

VISION

The more clearly everyone can see your vision, the likelier you are to achieve it.

In the Vision Component chapter, you will use a tool called The Vision/Traction Organizer (V/TO) to focus your people on one target

The tool simplifies strategic planning by distilling your vision into simple points that allow you to clearly define who you are as an organization, where you’re going and how you’ll get there.

It will also define your marketing strategy and crystallize your 10-year target, three-year picture, and one-year plan.

PEOPLE

great team: the right people in the right seats.

People Analyzer tool in Chapter 4 will help identify the right people by teaching you how to determine who shares your core values. It will also teach you to simplify how you hire, fire, review, reward, and recognize people in your organization.

look at your overall structure.

the Accountability Chart,

GWC,

which addresses the three absolutes for any good hire. They must get it, want it, and have the capacity to do it.

DATA

metrics

A Scorecard is a weekly report containing five to 15 high-level numbers for the organization.

A Scorecard allows you to monitor your business no matter where you are.

In addition to learning to create and implement your Scorecard, you will take your data management to the next level by learning to empower each person in your organization. Everyone will have a clear, meaningful, and manageable number that he or she is accountable for on a regular basis.

ISSUES

One helpful by-product of strengthening the first three EOS components is transparency. Execute them properly and you will have created an open organization where there is nowhere to hide. As a result, you will smoke out issues that have been holding you back.

Issues Component chapter, you will learn how to use the Issues List at all levels in your organization, allowing you to compartmentalize and prioritize all issues.

Issues Solving Track to eradicate these issues. This powerful tool is an efficient way to identify, discuss, and solve your organizational issues in a lasting and meaningful way.

identify various issues, create and manage an Issues List, and master the Issues Solving Track,

PROCESS

Your processes are your Way of doing business.

Due to lack of knowledge, this secret ingredient in business is the most neglected of the Six Key Components. Most entrepreneurs don’t understand how powerful process can be, but when you apply it correctly, it works like magic, resul...

You will not get your company to the next level by keeping your processes in your head...

In the Process Component chapter, we will identify, address, and document each of your core processes using the Three-Step Process Documenter.

TRACTION

In the end, the most successful business leaders are the ones with traction. They execute well, and they know how to bring focus, accountability, and discipline to their organization.

Due to fear and lack of discipline, the Traction Component is typically most orga...

The inability to make a business vision a reality is epidemic. Consider it a new take on an old quote: Vision without traction is merely hallucination. All over the world, business consultants frequently conduct multiple-day strategic planning sessions and charge tens of thousands of dollars for teaching what is theoretically great material. The downside is that after making you feel warm and fuzzy about your direction, thes...

How would you rate the accountability throughout your organization on a scale of 1 to 10? Most new clients that start The EOS Process rate their accountability somewhere around 4. Gaining traction requires two disciplines. First, everyone in the organization should have Rocks, which are clear 90-day priorities designed to keep them focused on what is most important. The second discipline requires implementing what is called a M...

Level 10 Meeting Agenda is a tool that will help you get to the core of what makes for great meetings, namely conflict and resolution.

everyone in your organization should know how to establish and achieve their Rocks.

Now that we know what the Six Key Components are, we need to assess where your company is right now. The Organizational Checkup

can also fill out the questionnaire online at www.eosworldwide.com /checkup. Several

Above all else, your leaders need to be able to simplify, delegate, predict, systemize, and structure. To the degree that you and your team apply these five abilities, you will grow to the next level.

One of the obstacles in gaining traction and achieving your vision is that roles, responsibilities, expectations, and job descriptions are unclear due to structural issues.

DOCUMENTING YOUR CORE PROCESSES There are three stages in documenting your Way. First, identify your core processes. Then break down what happens in each one and document it. Finally, compile the information into a single package for everyone in your company. IDENTIFY YOUR CORE PROCESSES To start off, schedule an hour with your leadership team. This is not an assignment to delegate to one person. Take this initial step together so that you’re calling your core processes the same thing. Entrepreneurs tend to claim they already know what the processes are; I frequently get resistance on the need to call this meeting at all. Every time I suggest it, the reaction is, “Oh, we can do that in five minutes.” I’ve yet to see a team do it in less than an hour. Here’s why. Your leadership team needs to identify and agree on what to call your core processes. Once you start the discussion, you’re going to find you have different names for them and lack consensus on how many there are. Your core processes typically include the following: The HR process is the way you search, find, hire, orient, manage, review, promote, retain, and fire people. The marketing process is the way you get your message to your target audience and generate interest in what you do and prospects for your salespeople. The sales process is the way you convert a prospect into a customer.

The operations processes are the way you make your product or provide your service to your customer. There are typically one to three core processes within operations (e.g., project management, logistics, warehouse, distribution, service technicians, account management, service delivery, production, quality control, customer service). The accounting process is the flow and management of all monies coming in and going out. The customer-retention process is the proactive way that you take care of your customers after your product or service has been delivered and the way you retain customers so that they continue to come back and send you referrals.

No matter how many core processes you have, you need to identify the ones that address every activity going on in the business. Then list them in one document and make sure that your leadership team is 100 percent on t...

Now that you’ve identified each core process and have a name for each one, everyone must call each of them by the exact same name from this day forward.

DOCUMENT EACH OF THE CORE PROCESSES In this step, the Accountability Chart comes into play. The person that is accountable for a certain process takes charge of documenting it.

When documenting the processes, you should follow the 20/80 rule. That means document the 20 percent that produces 80 percent of the results. In other words, document at a very high level.

You just need to capture the basic steps in the process, because the real problem is that people are skipping steps, and not always on purpose.

The following is an example of a documented process: THE HR PROCESS Step 1: The Search • Define role/job description/salary (the seat) • Decide search medium • Begin search • E-mail 20 sphere/peers Step 2: Interviewing • Screen résumés • Initial interview/profiling tools • Second interview • Check references • CEO interview/core values speech Step 3: Hiring • Eight-hour on-the-job trial • Decision • 90-day trial Step 4: Orientation • HR policy/review employee manual • Benefits review/forms • Position training • CEO orientation (company story/culture) Step 5: Quarterly Reviews • Manager fills out the People Analyzer in preparation for the review • Follow the review checklist • Review the People Analyzer • Document the review and have it signed by all parties • File review with HR department Step 6: Termination • Three-strike rule with documentation • Terminate upon third strike • Contact legal counsel • Meet with employee/have HR present • Exit interview

Document termination and have it signed by all parties Step 7: Ongoing Benefits Management • 401K management • Bonus plan • Health insurance • Employee files

In the end, each core process will run between two and 10...

As you simplify, most of the time you will find that your core processes are too complex.