Happy New Year!
This newsletter comes to you not from a poolside but from my bedside – Covid was my New Year’s gift!
But it’s forced me to relax after coming home from our holiday, so it’s not all bad. I am sure that unpacking can wait, and things can only get better!
In this section, we share one of the tools from our toolkit, with some real-life examples & common pitfalls to avoid. In this newsletter, I'd like to explore one of the EOS foundational tools, The Scorecard.
This can be a highly undervalued tool & it can sometimes feel hard to develop a good one. The reality is it can take months to get this right, but it’s worth it!
But even when you have nailed it, you will still want to review it every 90 days to make sure it is giving you data that you can use to make real business decisions.
In EOS, our Rocks are the most critical objectives of a quarter. They generally support annual goals or fix processes and help us gain traction on our vision.
These are visited every week in the Level 10 Meeting & best practice says you should spend around 20% of your time working on these things that move the business forward.
The Scorecard, then, is the way of keeping track of Business As Usual (BAU) – the stuff that keeps the doors open & the bills paid.
In EOS, everyone should have at least one measurable to keep them on track with their day-to-day tasks. These measurables create the Scorecard, or the scorecards create the measurables.
These should be forward-looking, activity-based numbers with weekly goals that lead to desired outcomes. Forward-looking metrics tell you if you’re on track to hit your monthly, quarterly, or annual goals.
The way that we develop Scorecards is to think about what numbers or measurables we want to achieve & that will help us understand if we are on track as well as identify when we have an issue & they’re things that can be measured & reviewed weekly in our Level 10 Meeting.
They should be a mixture of leading & lagging indicators – i.e., the results of the work that we have done along with the leading activities that will deliver these results.
The easiest example that I can use is the sales measurables.
The revenue/sales created each week is a lagging indicator. Measuring the activities that lead to sales are leading indicators – i.e., coffee meetings had, proposals delivered, etc.
Scorecards should exist at the leadership team level to give the LT the finger on the pulse of the business & then in each of the departments & teams.
Many businesses find it all too difficult to come up with things that they can measure & so dismiss it into the too-hard basket.
The best thing you can do as a team is just start measuring something.
Start by making a list of what you’d like to measure & then just start measuring what you can.
You’ll very quickly start to understand what Scorecard measurables are key to making business decisions & working out how you can get that data each week.
The purpose of a scorecard is to review weekly how things are going & catch things before it’s too late… Both issues & opportunities.
We need to look at what’s working & do more of it & resolve what’s not working quickly.
We also need to use the data each week to hold people accountable.
So, if you’re looking at data each week & not using it to make decisions or ignoring that you’re off-track each week, then it’s time to review the Scorecard and/or have the tough conversations.
Are you measuring the right things? Are they leading to the right outcomes? Do you have a data issue or a people issue?
It might be, especially as the Visionary, that you have lofty goals for the sales team or customer service team, but remember that a Scorecard is designed to keep people focused each week towards the 90-day plan.
If you set the bar too high immediately, the run of ‘red’ or ‘off-track’ data will likely discourage the team. They might feel it’s impossible ever to achieve them.
So, why not agree on what is possible & allow the team to get some ‘greens’ or ‘on track’ before raising the bar.
It’s perfectly okay to change the target as you achieve it & use the psychology of winning & moving up each week. I like to encourage the team to agree when it should be moved up – is it after 2 greens or 3 greens? Motivate & Inspire is a better way to get the team on board with achieving.
Finally, remember that you can & should review the Scorecard every 90 days:
This section gives you quick access to 9 links - to articles, blogs, podcasts & stuff that will help you to create a better business & lead a better life.
What sets high-performing organisations apart from their competitors?
A completely documented process is not a step-by-step way of doing something…
Rocks are key to supporting annual goals or fix processes & help us gain Traction.
JoBen & Amanda Barkey talk about how EOS helped their business & relationship.
Jeni, Nick & Debra talk about the proven EOS tools strategies for business growth.
Adam Harris & Kelly Feehan host this weekly podcast about elevating your business & life.
Weekly tips & tricks from couples & experts to keep your relationship fueled up.
Hilarious tale of optimism & positivity in the face of one of life’s greatest challenges.
One of the best performing schemes & lowest fees. Retirement savings put to good use!
In this section I will be introducing the team & our Trusted Partners.
The easiest one to start with is me – Debra Chantry-Taylor
Here are the answers to the 5 questions that will help you to get to know me…
I help business owners lead a better life by creating a better business. I am a qualified Leadership Coach, Business Coach, Family Business Advisor & a Certified EOS Implementer.
Why? Because as a business owner, I found myself working too long hours & not spending enough time doing other things, such as spending time with family & friends & pursuing my other passions – walking, cycling, photography, travel, food & reading.
It was only when my brother passed away at the young age of 44 that I realised that life was too short not to be doing these things.
And how did I get into it? Almost by accident. We were sponsoring Business Mentors when they asked me if I had considered being a Mentor. It had never occurred to me & I wasn’t sure what I could offer. However, I decided to give it a go. Then The Icehouse approached me & asked me to work with them as an Executive in Residence & Business Coach. I spent 7 years as one of their top coaches before I finally went out on my own.
I love being able to help people set up their businesses using proven & pragmatic tools so that they can be freed up to do what they love with people they love whilst still having time to pursue other passions.
As I said above, I now love taking time to travel, walk, cycle, enjoy food & languages, read & take photos. I do this with my husband & our fur babies.
I was actually asked to leave school when I was doing my A levels. I was bored in classes & so a little disruptive & so I was ‘encouraged’ to go & find something else to do.
That took me to College, where I studied Food Science and technology – something that I found more engaging. Plus, it was at an Agricultural College, so I got to have a horse – Win win!
EOS is a great tool for managing the people & energy in your business, but it’s not software, as most people think when I say I help people implement EOS (The Entrepreneurial Operating System).
But it’s certainly a lot easier when you do have software to help run EOS in your business.
That’s where Ninety.io comes in.
Ninety is the only officially licensed software for EOS®. It helps you implement and leverage the Entrepreneurial Operating System® faster, easier, and more effectively with their EOS-specific platform.
You can run EOS using a word document & a spreadsheet & it works just fine, but Ninety just takes things to the next level. It will help you:
Move forward together by clarifying, refining, documenting, and then sharing your company’s compelling vision.
End miscommunications and misalignments by seamlessly sharing knowledge, resources, and data.
Create a culture of trust and accountability by unifying teams into one platform — regardless of location.
Gain clear lines of sight into individual worlds with a readily accessible hub that promotes sharing information and communication.
Reduce the hours you waste on boring, unproductive meetings and tracking down lost information.
Give everyone the tools they need to get work done in less time and with less frustration.
Am I biased? Yes, because we’ve been using it in our own businesses for over 3 years. And most of my clients use it.
You can find an overview here.
And if you want to give it a go then sign up for a free 30-day trial.
No credit card required & the team at Ninety will even help you get all your data into it.
We are here to help you live a better life by creating a better business. We are real-life business owners with years of experience & a strong desire to make a huge difference to the lives of entrepreneurs.
If anything here resonates with you or you would like our help, then please get in contact. Just reply to this newsletter & let us know who you would like to speak to…. Or visit our webpage & contact any of our team from their own pages.
If you know someone who would benefit from reading this, then please forward it onto them. 💖
​If you’d like to learn more about any of these tools or would like to find out how I can help you achieve a better life through creating a better business, then book a free Discovery Call with me.
We’ll talk about what you want to get from your business & your life & come up with a plan to do that!
Debra Chantry-Taylor
Certified EOS Implementer | Accredited Family Business Advisor | Entrepreneurial Leadership & Business Coach | Speaker & Workshop Facilitator
