Every quarter we set three to five Rocks per person, but we find ourselves in a mad dash during the last two weeks of the quarter trying to green-light them. How do we prevent this last-minute panic?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

The mad dash at the end of the quarter is a classic sign of weak weekly tracking. If you are waiting until week ten or eleven to realize a Rock is in trouble, you have already failed. The fix starts inside your weekly Level 10 Meeting™. During the Rock review portion, each owner must state whether their Rock is on track or off track.

Being off track is not a failure; it is an early warning system. If a Rock is off track for two consecutive weeks, it must be dropped to the Issues List immediately. Do not wait for the owner to figure it out privately. Drop it to the list and use the collective brainpower of the leadership team during the IDS® portion to get it back on track.

Another critical tactic is to break each Rock down into three clear milestones during your quarterly planning session. These milestones should act as hard check points at the thirty, sixty, and ninety day marks. If you hit your thirty day milestone, you are on track. If you miss it, the Rock is immediately flagged.

Lastly, make sure you are not over allocating. A common mistake is setting five massive Rocks per person. Limit your team to three highly focused Rocks. It is far better to cross three critical goals over the finish line than to have five half finished projects that drag into the next quarter. Keep the focus tight and use the weekly meeting to catch slips early.