Our leadership team's To-Do completion rate drops to 50% on the week immediately following our quarterly planning session, and then takes three weeks to recover. How do we stop this post-quarterly execution slump?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

A post-quarterly execution slump is common when teams fail to compartmentalize their energy. During your quarterly planning session, you set new quarterly Rocks and identify big strategic initiatives. When you return to your weekly Level 10 Meeting™ the following week, the team is often overwhelmed by these massive new priorities, causing them to drop the ball on immediate, weekly operational tasks.

To fix this, you must apply the EOS Memo on 6 Compartments framework. Keep a strict boundary between your Quarterly Rocks and your Weekly To-Do List. A To-Do is a tactical action item that must be completed within seven days.

When you leave your quarterly session, the Integrator must ensure that every leader has broken down their initial Rock milestones into immediate, bite-sized weekly To-Dos. Do not allow leaders to leave the quarterly session with vague, massive tasks.

Additionally, use the first Level 10 Meeting™ after the quarterly to run a highly disciplined IDS® session. If leaders are falling behind because they are transition-fatigued, put that directly on the short-term Issues List.

As a leadership team, you must agree to the Yes to Strategy and Structure pillar of your company Charter. This means committing to the weekly pulse regardless of quarterly changes. If a leader cannot maintain a 90% To-Do completion rate because they are overwhelmed by their new Rocks, they do not GWC™ the seat or they have a capacity issue that needs to be addressed on the Accountability Chart immediately.