​EXECUTION – CADENCE AND REVIEW

In previous articles in The Beacon on Execution, we have covered the imperative of prioritising strategic execution time in your calendar, focus, and accountability. This month I want to finish off the topic with two more items – cadence and review.

Weekly Meetings
The primary execution cadence is weekly. The weekly execution meeting is where you eat this elephant one bite at a time. Hold a one-hour execution meeting every week on the same day at the same time. ​Attendance is compulsory for all members of your management team. ​​Do not allow any item to be discussed except the 90-Day Actions. Unless its literally life or death, even a crisis should  be deferred until after the completion of the execution meeting.

The Weekly Execution Meeting is where you eat this elephant one bite at a time

During these meetings you decide on the tasks that must be completed each week, in order to be on track for successful execution of your 90-Day Actions by the end of the quarter. I suggest an agenda like this:

1. Good News – each person shares an item of good news related to the business. Many clients add in an item of personal good news also.
2. Review the tasks to which someone committed at last week’s meeting. Were they completed successfully? If not, why not? Discuss ways of overcoming obstacles encountered and how to catch up to the timeline.
3. Discuss and agree on the tasks to be completed this week and who is accountable for them.
4. Finish off with a round of Core Values nominations (I will explain these next month in a new topic – Culture).

Quarterly Review
​The next most important cadence is quarterly. At the end of every 90 Days, take a half day out to review your execution performance for the quarter. Again, all your management team should attend. Be brutally honest with yourselves. What went well? What went badly? Did you achieve all your 90-Day Actions? If not, why not? What are our major learnings about how to execute? How will we apply them in this next quarter to execute better? Document and circulate your findings, and go again. Update your SWOT Analysis and decide on your next 90-Day Actions. Once a year, when your 1-Year Actions are due, take a whole day, review some elements of your strategic plan, and start the whole execution cycle again.