Compartmentalizing is the act of putting things into categories, groups or sections. Compartmentalization is a great tool to sort through all the goals, activities, tasks, wishes, needs and requirements we have in our daily work but can’t seem to get done. We often create goals at the beginning of a new year, but to achieve success, a plan is required!
The Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) is one of the most popular compartmentalization methodologies. Although I am not a certified EOS consultant, we implemented a modified version of this methodology at I-BN with great results.
Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS)
One of the key elements of EOS is compartmentalizing all your “stuff” into categories based upon duration, importance and urgency. These four compartments help increase focus of your leadership team and the entire organization.
Personalize your Compartmentalization Process
Compartmentalization for success requires a process designed for your business. As the first in our industry, we had no benchmark competitors. We found EOS and believe it is great as a corporate operating system. However, EOS doesn’t address the core operations of a business. So, we found our methodology by combining concepts from multiple sources. At I-BN we utilized components from Traction and EOS, and incorporated lessons learned from our ASAP Implementation methodology, SCRUM concepts and Afterburner’s Flawless Execution techniques.
Flawless execution is the ability to perform a task in the prescribed manner. A group of American fighter pilots developed Flawless Execution techniques because for them, the smallest error is the difference between life and death! In technology services, the devil is in the details. Not quite life and death consequences, but systems downtime costs money. As a cloud service provider, downtime is multiplied to all customers. Cloud technology is constantly changing, so agility is key! The SCRUM methodology is agile, so we incorporated SCRUM tools and metrics.
Compartmentalized Success Metrics
At the highest level we organized all of our objectives for the year around four key concepts. We prioritized projects based upon the impact they had on our strategic goals. For each project we measured the anticipated impact against the key performance indicators on our Company Scorecard.
We tied our “Rocks” and “To-Do’s,” in the EOS vernacular, to members of the management team and individuals within the organization.
Aligned Goals and Metrics
We knew to be successful we had to align our Goals from top to bottom. You will notice that the revenue goals were not on this chart because we viewed them as an outcome of effort and success in our key corporate goals.
We also chose Rocks and projects that would meet multiple corporate goals. For example, we created SAP Start & Grow as a templated implementation of SAP Business One for discrete product distributors delivered in a modern cloud architecture. Start & Grow simplifies SAP, provides a reliable delivery model and ensures a clear process for action and accountability to meet customer objectives.
Rocks, goals and projects are all tools for compartmentalizing for success.
Action Planning
Easier said than done you might say. In my experience, this is necessary work to achieve your goals. Organizing your success plan starts at the top with your vision and mission. Without clarity on your why, you cannot begin. After that the outline is relatively straightforward and begins with planning for success.
- Define and document your unique value proposition. Identify your target customer and understand why they should buy from you instead of your competition.
- Ensure your vision and mission are aligned with your unique value proposition.
- Organize your teams and processes to focus on those value propositions.
- Identify the key drivers for success in those processes and what leading indicators for success
When you understand who your ideal customer is, your unique value proposition for them and how you deliver on your promise, the rest becomes tactical.
To learn more about how I-BN can help you compartmentalize for success with Business Transformation, read our blog on Goal Setting in the Digital Age, book a CxO Explore or schedule an initial consultation on my Calendar. We are always eager to learn about and help businesses become more efficient and effective in the digital age.