There’s a new Motorway (M8) in Sydney which makes my trips to the airport even faster. In a recent trip, I had an early morning domestic flight (6:30am) and I was keen to catch the earlier 6am flight to get to my destination even earlier. I left home early enough and was making good progress of the 40min drive. I was on cruise control (literally & metaphorically) with only two other cars in sight and it seemed that I would comfortably make it in time for the earlier flight.
I started thinking about my day, the workshop and activities after that. I was deep in thought and missed my exit. By the time I realised, it was too late! Now, I’m disappointed with myself and worried that I might even miss my scheduled flight, let alone catching the earlier one. I took the next exit and was hoping that I can get to the airport without losing too much time.
This happens in business as well. We develop strategy deployment plans which is akin to GPS coordinates and planned route. It is common for these strategies and tactics to take businesses to new levels and ways of working. A bit like travelling on a new road. So, how do you ensure that you don’t miss your exit or take the wrong one? What are your checkpoints in businesses to ensure that you are still on the planned route to get to your planned destination?
Patrick Lencioni, famous for his New York best-selling book, ‘Five Dysfunctions of Team’, also authored, ‘Death by Meeting ‘. In this, he outlines four types of meetings that businesses should have: daily check-in, weekly tactical, monthly strategical and quarterly off-site. Many leaders have a love-hate relationship with meetings. We need them, but we don’t get the real value from them.
In my book ADVANCE, chapter 8, titled, ‘Review Regularly and Consistently ‘, outlines an effective framework of meetings from shift(ly) (not a real word, I know), daily, weekly, monthly quarterly and annually. We move from tactical to strategical focus as we move from shift/daily meetings to monthly/quarterly meetings. It is not difficult to have effective meetings if you implement the basics – a visual dashboard, agenda, code-of-conduct, and minutes /actions.
These pulse check meetings are designed to keep businesses on the right path. This is the process to ensure that you don’t miss your exit on the motorway. And, even if you do, then these meetings allow you to get back on track without losing too much ground.
So, how do you keep the business and teams on track? What meetings have you got in place now? How effective are they? What is the one thing you can do to make them better?
PS: I did manage to catch the earlier flight at the last minute.
