How to keep the blood pumping in your business – the meeting rhythm
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We all know that getting the balance right between working in and on your business is critical - but it is not easy. How do we make sure as business owners that the business keeps on top of the day to day activities as well as the key strategic priorities? At the heart of the answer to this dilemma is finding an appropriate meeting rhythm for your business. In this deck and linked 20 minute webinar Kevin will help you to establish and implement the right meeting structure and frequency for your business.
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How to keep the blood pumping in your business – the meeting rhythm
- 1. We all know that getting the balance right between working in and on your business is critical - but it is not easy. How do we make sure as business owners that the business keeps on top of the day to day activities as well as the key strategic priorities? At the heart of the answer to this dilemma is finding an appropriate meeting rhythm for your business. There is a link at the end of this deck to the associated blog and webinar recording
- 2. Kevin Brent
- 4. Strategy, People, Execution, Cash
- 5. A well structured ‘Rhythm’ of daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly & annual meetings The meeting Rhythm is a concept outlined in Scaling Up by Verne Harnish and the Gazelles
- 6. • Interruptions from staff coming to you asking for advice/ solutions/ what to do.. • Feeling of constant fire-fighting • Things getting missed/ information not passed from one person or team to another • Targets not being met and not realised until too late • Some people seem overworked whilst others not • Deadlines missed
- 7. • Feeling that no-one else has the ‘big picture’ in mind • Feeling disorganised • Peaks and troughs of activity • Not everyone clear on the priorities • You are getting sucked into the day to day activities and unable to spend the time you’d like planning the future • You discover late about customer, competitor or employee issues/ information
- 8. • Hate meetings • Take up too much time/ don’t have time • Wouldn’t work in my business • Meetings are just an excuse to chat • We see each other all day anyway • There’s only a few of us!
- 9. Correct meeting rhythm will save time Casual encounters do not take advantage of: • Peer pressure • Collective intelligence • Clear communication
- 10. The Daily Huddle • 5-10 minutes • Tactical issues and updates The Weekly Team Meeting • 60-90 minutes • Review progress on quarterly priorities and market intelligence The Monthly Management Meeting • Half-day for small businesses • Review key metrics of the business & • collaboratively address one or two key issues The Quarterly and Annual Planning Meetings • How long – Full day • Update the plan and establish focus for the next quarter/ year
- 11. Linking Strategy with Execution Annual sets the strategic direction & priorities Quarterly breaks these down into bit-sized priorities Monthly addresses bigger issues or opportunities that arise whilst implementing the strategy Weekly keeps priorities top of mind and ensures discussion around customer, employee and competitors – feed into monthly/ quarterly sessions Daily huddle tracks progress, keeps finger on the pulse & raises/ removes roadblocks Increasing frequency
- 13. The Weekly Meeting Agenda • What’s gone well? – 5 minutes • Progress against key priorities – 10 minutes • Feedback from customers & employees – 10 minutes • Focus topic – e.g. major event, opportunity or issue – 30 minutes • Smart Actions – What, Who, When • Key take-away from each member/ one phrase close
- 14. Smart Actions What Who When
- 16. Quarterly & Annual Meetings OUTLINE • Establish next quarter or annual theme • Review business against the 4 key strategic priorities: • Strategy • People • Execution • Cash Similar agenda to monthly Include an update for all employees
- 18. A well structured ‘Rhythm’ of daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly & annual meetings
- 19. BizSmart aims to help business owners of small and medium sized businesses to create value and scale their businesses through sound practical business support by providing insight, Clarity combined with a real determination to help you succeed. You can access webinars and presentations like this and more besides through our SmartRoom service here You can read the associated blog and listen to a live recording of this presentation by clicking here You can read Kevin’s profile here
- 20. •Need a sounding board for your ideas? •Need to know what to prioritise? •Want someone to challenge your assumptions?
- 21. BizSmart – Where Smart people go to surround themselves with other Smart people, to gain business success.
Editor's Notes
- We all know that getting the balance right between working in and on your business is critical - but it is not easy. How do we make sure as business owners that the business keeps on top of the day to day activities as well as the key strategic priorities? At the heart of the answer to this dilemma is finding an appropriate meeting rhythm for your business. In this 20 minute webinar Kevin will help you to establish and implement the right meeting structure and frequency for your business
- Refer back to Strategy, People, Execution and Cash Good place to start once you’ve got the strategy – refer back to Business Direction etc Heartbeat of any business is the way the people and the teams perform Structured communication becomes vital the moment there is more than one person in the business Not meetings for meetings sake – and depending on the type of business and the pace of growth, the rhythm will be different
- A well structured ‘rhythm’ of daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly meetings Not meetings for meetings sake – and depending on the type of business and the pace of growth, the rhythm will be different
- Typical issues Interruptions from staff coming to you asking for advice/ solutions/ what to do.. Feeling of constant fire-fighting Things getting missed/ information not passed from one person or team to another Targets not being met and not realised until too late Some people seem overworked whilst others not Deadlines missed Feeling that no-one else has the ‘big picture’ in mind Feeling disorganised Peaks and troughs of activity Not everyone clear on the priorities You are getting sucked into the day to day activities and unable to spend the time you’d like planning the future You discover late about customer, competitor or employee issues/ information
- Typical issues Interruptions from staff coming to you asking for advice/ solutions/ what to do.. Feeling of constant fire-fighting Things getting missed/ information not passed from one person or team to another Targets not being met and not realised until too late Some people seem overworked whilst others not Deadlines missed Feeling that no-one else has the ‘big picture’ in mind Feeling disorganised Peaks and troughs of activity Not everyone clear on the priorities You are getting sucked into the day to day activities and unable to spend the time you’d like planning the future You discover late about customer, competitor or employee issues/ information
- Objections Hate meetings Take up too much time/ don’t have time Wouldn’t work in my business Meetings are just an excuse to chat We see each other all day anyway
- Counter – Have you stopped to think for minute Probably hate meetings because you’ve had bad experiences in previous orgs Common issues around lack of clear agenda, purpose and expected outcomes Correct meeting rhythm will save time (avoid constant interruptions) – keep issues to the appropriate time-slot Casual encounters do not take advantage of Peer pressure Collective intelligence Clear communication
- The Meeting Rhythm – designed to support disseminating information around the key priorities and targets – most important is to schedule/ get in your diary! The Daily Huddle Who – everyone in appropriate groups/ could be by project How long - 5-10 minutes What - tactical issues and updates The Weekly Team Meeting Who – by team How long – 60-90 minutes What – review progress on quarterly priorities and market intelligence The Monthly Management Meeting Who – Senior & middle management How long – half-day for small businesses What – Review key metrics of the business & collaboratively address one or two key issues. The Quarterly and Annual Planning Meetings Who – Leaders plus an update for employees How long – Full day What – Update the plan and establish the theme/ focus for the next quarter/ year. Includes an update for all employees
- The annual sets the strategic direction & priorities The quarterly breaks these down into bit-sized priorities The monthly addresses bigger issues or opportunities that arise whilst implementing the strategy The weekly keeps priorities top of mind and ensures discussion around customer, employee and competitors – feed into monthly/ quarterly sessions The daily huddle tracks progress, keeps finger on the pulse & raises/ removes roadblocks
- The Daily Huddle Same time every day/ to fit in with the business Same place Standing only – no sitting down Start on time whether everyone present or not Plan 1 minute per person Include remote workers – e.g. google hangouts, conference calls etc Time the meetings/ control & take things ‘offline’ where necessary/ tangents not needing everyone Not – a ramble about what you did yesterday, not a planning meeting, minutes are not required The Agenda What’s up today/ focus for the day? – specifics relevant to key activities/ decisions What are your targets/ goals for today? Where are you stuck/ where do you need help
- The Weekly Meeting Agenda What’s gone well – 5 minutes Progress against key priorities – 10 minutes Feedback from customers & employees – 10 minutes Focus topic – e.g. major event, opportunity or issue – 30 minutes Smart Actions – What, Who, When Key take-away from each member/ one phrase close Minutes/ Actions sheet
- The Monthly Management Meeting Agenda What’s gone well What’s not gone so well Share issues from previous month Progress against quarterly theme/ focus Progress against last month’s key focus for improvement - topic/ process/ issue Progress against key performance indicators & actions where necessary Financial Sales Marketing Operations Team Stability Leadership Identify & work on this month’s key focus for improvement - topic/ process/ issues identified earlier Confirmation of priorities for this month Key take aways – each
- The typical solutions for these and other poor meetings come down to defining and implementing a structured agenda. Each layer of meeting has a different purpose/ aim and it is important to keep it that way – if someone raises broader planning issues in the daily huddle then they should be taken up to the appropriate level of meeting rather than go off on a tangent.
- So there you have it – if you want to keep the blood pumping in your business and enable you to have more time to work on the business than in the business – work out a suitable meeting Rhythm for your business and set to work implementing it – and schedule them in the diary