EOS Traction Tools: The Meeting Pulse
Meetings are an important part of running the EOS Traction method. These meetings each provide their individual moments of truth, transparency, and no-nonsense approach to staying on track.
The meetings described below are all part of the Traction routine, each have a set cadence, occur on the same day, time (and start on time), with the same agenda, and always end on time. At first glance, the meeting ritual used by Traction seems rigid and methodical, which at first kind of turned me off, but all these meetings have the same goal: to keep all the circles connected.
The EOS Traction Meetings
Annual Meeting
The Annual Planning meeting is a two-day event that happens once a year, and is the kickoff to the new year ahead. There are multiple Traction tools you use during the annual meeting, including the Organizational Checkup, but two of the most important elements are solidifying the Company Vision via the Vision/Traction Organizer (V/TO) and developing a 1-year plan.
Quarterly Meeting
At the end of each quarter, your leadership team gets together for one day to hold a meeting to accomplish numerous tactics. Some of the most important elements of the quarterly meeting are:
Review the V/TO and previous quarter’s rocks
Establish next quarter’s rocks
Resolve key issues through the IDS process
Weekly Meetings
Each week, the Company’s leadership team, as well as individual departments, will gather for 90 minutes for weekly meetings, known in Traction as “L10 meetings”. There is a set cadence for these meetings. Here is the agenda and dedicated time allotted for each section.
Segue (5 minutes)
An opportunity for individual participants to share one personal and one professional best from the prior week.
Scorecard (5 minutes)
Review the key metrics that are driving the business from the previous week.
Rock Review (5 minutes)
Each rock owner gives a “on/off” status update of the rock. Rocks that are reported as “off” are added to the IDS section of the meeting.
Customer/Employee Headlines (5 minutes)
A chance for anyone to share any important employee or customer updates.
To-Do List (5 minutes)
Review any to do list items from the last L10 meeting, where the individual responsible for the to-do can report the item complete or still in progress. According to Traction, a to-do is allowed two weeks for completion, otherwise it should be considered a project.
IDS (60 minutes)
For a full hour, the team should discuss the most important issues in front of the business during the IDS section. Issues are identified, discussed, and solved during this time.
Conclude (5 minutes)
To wrap up the meeting, attendees should recap the to-do list (making sure that carryover to-do’s are noted and new ones have been added), discuss any cascading messages that need to be communicated across the organization, and then each individual rates the meeting between 1-10. If anyone scores the meeting less than an 8, an issue should be added for the next L10 meeting to discuss why the score was given.
None of us need anymore meetings in our schedule, but if you follow the EOS Traction method, these meetings are very intentional and can be very helpful for staying on track.
