Introduction
Does your company have too many meetings? Are they unproductive?!? Running an operation isn’t for the faint of heart.
As an organization grows, the number of meetings can get out of hand. Using a system of meetings to keep your Team aligned and working together towards the company goals is critical for success
In this Series, we’re reviewing the 6-Step Plan to run your business from Donald Miller’s latest book, How to Grow Your Small Business, and the online platform at businessmadesimple.com.
The analogy of an airplane helps describe the 6 Steps and this week, we’re continuing with our first installment in Step 5, the Body, your Overhead & Operations. Don introduces the Management & Productivity Made Simple Playbook, which contains the five meetings you can use to run your business. These meetings will replace most of the other meetings that you currently have, by streamlining how information flows and keeping everyone on the same page.
Installing the five meetings of the Management & Productivity Made Simple Playbook into your company will keep your Overhead in control and your Operations in sync, so that your business can soar to new heights.
Step 5 – The Body (Your Overhead & Operations) – The Five Meetings That Will Transform Your Company
Have Fewer Meetings, Get More Done, and Grow Your Business
Most small businesses fail to scale because they don’t have a system that allows them to get things done. What you need is a simple management and productivity system you can use to organize your work and your Teams. You need a repeatable system that ensures these four things happen:
- Everybody knows the three Primary Objectives of the business.
- Everybody knows what their department’s responsibilities are to contribute to those objectives.
- Everybody knows what their personal responsibilities are through clear assignments with deadlines.
- Everybody is getting consistent feedback on how they are doing.
Ineffective meetings that aren’t structured, or waste time are extremely expensive for your business. The expense of the meetings includes not only the wages for everyone in the meetings, but also the lost opportunity cost of what those Teammates could have been doing if they hadn’t been stuck in a pointless meeting.
Five Simple Meetings to Align Your Team & Organize Your Business
Maybe you think you already have too many meetings and you can’t possibly add five more. The five meetings from the Management & Productivity Made Simple Playbook are intended to be the foundation of your Operations rhythms and will replace most other meetings you are currently having.
Here are the five meetings in the Playbook:
We’ll describe these meetings in the next five blog posts of this series, along with the templates for each, so you can build them into your regular Operational rhythms. They will professionalize your operation and give you and your Leadership Team confidence that comes from decreasing the “organized chaos” that most small businesses deal with each day.
You’ll be amazed to discover how using the Management & Productivity Made Simple Playbook will align your Team and enhance its effectiveness through a repeatable system of meetings. These meetings will allow your business to scale by professionalizing your Operations and keeping everyone on the same page.
Every member of your Team will understand what the company is trying to accomplish and the part that they play to make it happen. They will be energized, as will you, by the feeling of knowing they’re on the right path towards success.
Final Thoughts
Step 5 from Donald Miller’s book, How to Grow Your Small Business, is the Body – Your Overhead & Operations. The Management & Productivity Made Simple Playbook describes the five meetings you’ll need to run your business, keeping your Team aligned around your greatest priorities. Step 5 will ensure that your productivity is maximized, so you won’t unnecessarily increase your Overhead by adding more people.
Over the next five weeks, we’ll describe the elements of each of the five meetings you’ll want to introduce and how you can use them to align your Team and scale your business. After installing the meetings in the Playbook, your business will be transformed.
- Everybody will know what the business is trying to do.
- Everybody will know what their role is.
- Everybody will know why they matter.
- Morale and revenue will go up together.
Step 5 will ensure the body of your small business airplane, your Overhead & Operations, don’t get so big that they limit your altitude. The biggest part of your Overhead is the people on your airplane, and those people are one of the biggest reasons you have a plane in the first place. You want your business to be able to fly them far and high, soaring to new heights of success.
Next week, we’ll talk about the first meeting, the All-Staff Meeting, and how it can get your entire Team focused on your top Strategic Priorities each week.
