Rhythm · Proving to Growing
The rhythm of a growing company
You know which fixed moments there are, from the day to the year, which ones you need in your phase, and where to start.
Does this sound familiar?
- You spend the whole day walking round the desks to find out how things are going.
- There's a weekly meeting, but the quarter's priorities never come up in it.
- Last year's away day produced a great plan, and then nothing came of it.
Who it's for, and when
For founders whose meetings mostly happen when something goes wrong, and whose January plans are forgotten by April. It starts to matter as soon as you can no longer see and hear everything yourself.
The model
Harnish saw that fast-growing companies do three things well: a few priorities, numbers everyone can see, and a fixed rhythm for discussing the two. Priorities without a rhythm get forgotten, and nobody looks at numbers without one.
The rhythm has five moments. The year sets the direction, the quarter turns it into a few priorities, the week turns those into work and the day into what you do today. In the other direction, what actually happened moves back up: what the week can't solve goes to the month, and the quarter picks up what the month taught you. Each moment starts with what the previous one produced.
You don't need all of them at once. In Proving, one fixed weekly moment is enough, with the priorities and a few numbers on the table. In Organising, the rest follows, because you can no longer see everything yourself. In Growing, each team gets its own week and day, and the leadership team runs the month, the quarter and the year. Always start with the week.
Verne Harnish, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits (2002) and Scaling Up (2014): three habits of fast-growing companies, namely a few priorities, numbers, and a fixed rhythm for discussing the two.
The day: where are you stuck?
Fifteen minutes, standing up, with your team. Everyone says what has to get done today and where they're stuck. You solve things afterwards, with the people involved. In Boldcaster: Today.
Starting the day wellThe week: what needs to get done?
On Monday you fill the board with what can get done this week, and on Friday you decide card by card. Individually or per team. In Boldcaster: the Week sprint.
Planning in weeksThe weekly meeting: what do you solve?
An hour with the leadership team, half an hour per team. First the priorities and the numbers, then solve the biggest problems, and finish with what you'll tell your people.
A meeting that's about somethingWhat's stuck: what's the cause?
In the weekly meeting you put whatever's stuck on one list, find the real cause and finish with a decision and an owner.
Solving problems instead of discussing themThe month: what are you learning?
Everyone looks back using four questions: what you wanted, what happened, why, and what you'll do differently next month. In Boldcaster: the monthly reflection.
Looking back on the monthThe quarter: what do you choose?
Half a day or a full day, in the first weeks of the new quarter. Close out the last quarter and choose a few priorities. In Boldcaster: the quarterly reflection and Priorities.
The quarterly sessionThe year: is the direction right?
Two days with the leadership team, ideally away from the office. Look back on four quarters, test the strategy, decide what to stop and set the goals for the year.
Closing the year and planning the nextPitfalls
Moments that don't connect
There's a weekly meeting and a quarterly day, but the week doesn't look at the quarter's priorities. Then you've got five separate meetings rather than one rhythm.
Bringing everything in at once
Nobody keeps up five new moments at the same time, and the first thing to go when it gets busy is the short one. Start with the week and keep it going for a quarter.
Watch and read
Goes through Harnish's checklist: priorities, numbers and the meeting rhythm, and why you need all three together.
Watch on YouTubeThe man behind the model on why a few priorities and fixed routines get you further than a long list.
Watch on YouTubeRead
Mastering the Rockefeller Habits
Verne Harnish · 2002 · ISBN 9780978774943
The original source of the three habits, with how long each moment of the rhythm takes and what it covers. Short and practical.
View the bookApply it
- 1
Write down which moments you have now
What meetings do you already have, how often, and what passes from one to the next? Write down what actually happens, not what's meant to happen. Put it next to the map above.
- 2
Start with the week
Set up one fixed weekly moment, on the same day at the same time, that opens with the quarter's priorities. Keep it going for a quarter before you add another moment.
A meeting that's about something - 3
Put the long moments in the diary now
Book the quarterly sessions and the annual session for the whole year ahead. Whatever isn't in the diary gets dropped when it's busy.
Examples
An installation company
There was a weekly meeting and a quarterly day, but the quarterly priorities never came up in the weekly meeting. Now Monday opens with the four priorities and where they stand, and whatever's left undone moves on to the month. By the quarterly day, there's a list the team has built up itself.
A wholesaler with three branches
The branch managers rang the managing director about everything. Now there's a short call with the three of them every morning, and whatever doesn't fit there gets solved in the weekly meeting. The number of ad hoc phone calls has halved.
Do this in your own business
Everything up to here is free. What you fill in for your own business, you keep in Boldcaster.
- You assign the lesson to your team and see who has done it.
- The quiz counts towards your progress, and you see which lesson comes next.
Four weeks free. You'll land straight in this lesson.
Quiz
5 situations. You need 4 of 5 right. You can try again at any time.
1.Every year there's a good away day, and by March nobody remembers what was decided. What's missing?
2.Your company is in Proving: customers come back, and you still see nearly everything yourself. Which moments do you set up?
3.It's the busiest week of the year. A team leader suggests skipping the weekly meeting. What do you do?
4.Four priorities were chosen at the quarterly session. After that, the weekly meeting is about planning and complaints, and the priorities don't come up again. What do you change?
5.Your company has three teams, each with a leader, and the leadership team meeting now takes three hours because everything ends up in it. What do you change in the rhythm?
Nothing is saved here. In the app, the quiz counts towards your progress.
Read next
- Starting the day well · Every morning you pick three things that have to get done today, and if you lead a team you hold a fifteen-minute daily start where everyone says where they're stuck.
- A meeting that's about something · Your weekly meeting, team meeting and monthly meeting each have a fixed agenda with timings, and every meeting ends with decisions that have an owner, and with what you'll tell your people.
- The quarterly session · Every quarter you hold a half-day session with your team. It closes off the priorities, draws the lessons from them, and ends with a few new priorities and the KPI targets for the next quarter.
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