During our first ninety days of implementation, our team feels overwhelmed by the sudden addition of weekly Level 10 Meetings™, Scorecards, and Rocks on top of their day jobs. How do we manage this capacity crisis without lowering our standards or postponing our rollout?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Feeling overwhelmed during the first ninety days is the most common friction point in an EOS® rollout. It happens because you are laying the tracks while trying to drive the train. However, pausing or delaying the rollout to catch your breath is a critical mistake that kills momentum and signals to your team that the system is optional.

The capacity crisis is not caused by the EOS® tools themselves. It is caused by the fact that your team was already running at over-capacity, and the tools are simply making that reality visible. The cure is not to stop using the tools, but to use them to solve the capacity issue.

First, look at your Rocks. If your team is drowning, you likely wrote too many Rocks or made them too large. Keep it to one to three Rocks per person during this initial cycle.

Second, use your weekly Level 10 Meeting™ to actively IDS® the capacity constraint. If a leader cannot complete their weekly milestones, put their capacity on the Issues List. Solve it by identifying which daily tasks can be delegated, delayed, or eliminated entirely.

Finally, remember that the weekly Level 10 Meeting™ actually saves time by eliminating the constant, disorganized interruptions and ad-hoc status updates that clutter your week. Force the discipline. Once the rhythm is established, the operational noise will quiet down, and your team will find they have more time, not less.