Implementing the Traction Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) with our team yielded surprisingly positive results. Though we self-implemented, which some might consider less effective, our commitment is unwavering. Every member of our management team read the full book to ensure thorough implementation. The process, including the mistakes we made, strengthened our dedication to EOS. Our entire team is highly committed, with all employees having read either the full book or the team member summary, “What the Heck is EOS.”
One of our biggest successes mirrors a story about a steel company that boosted productivity by making their progress visible. Inspired by this, we set a goal for our team to eliminate overdue tickets, promising lunch for every week they met the target of Zero. Initially, we had about thirty tickets outside SLA and thought reaching zero might take years.
The results were incredible! For three weeks, our team consistently hit lower benchmarks, and achieved zero overdue tickets in less than a month. They continue to maintain near-perfect results, hitting zero overdue tickets five out of the first six weeks. This success showed the power of clear goals and visible progress.
The three owners at Symtec have limited capacity and can only work on a few goals at a time. This was a limiting factor in our company, slowing our results, and our growth ability. We have great team members, but most of them were handed processes to follow and had to ask for permission to make changes. Wesley, Trevor, and Robert had to allow others to help. Traction helped set clear goals and have scorecards to see the overall status of each team and the company. The owners learned to stop giving team members instructions they had to follow and allow them and their team members to adapt to their own team needs. The results again have been phenomenal, by getting out of the way, team members are thriving, all in the parameters set in our vision, company goals, and scorecards. Team members are now completing improvements on their own and taking accountability for the expected results of their position, leading to achievement of target goals on each departments scorecard.
As we Implemented scorecards there were some employees who not surprisingly were falling short in at least part of their duties. We made it clear that all aspects of the job are critical not just their favorite activities. In one example, we met with an employee who didn’t believe they could meet expectations. We dove into their concerns and came up with some ideas on how they could change to meet their goals. We met with them a few times over the month. With clear expectations they understood we didn’t just need to check the box but accomplish the outcome that was needed. This changed the outcome completely and they began overachieving on expectations.
The Challenges
Employee Resistance: Initially, employees resisted change and accountability, fearing a loss of autonomy and increased pressure from scorecards. While change can be stressful, accountability is crucial for growth. Over time, we've eased these concerns by frequently reviewing scorecards, recognizing progress, and mentoring for better results.
Time Management: With nine team members involved in annual, quarterly, and weekly Traction meetings, time management became a challenge. Despite this, the investment has unified our efforts, allowing us to prioritize effectively and achieve faster progress, improved profitability, and increased capacity.
Employee Turnover: Some team members left due to job pressures, which is expected as not everyone will fit the roles needed or share our vision. It's better to identify and address this early to get the right people on board.
Client Alignment: We've parted ways with some clients whose needs didn't align with our new model. While initially concerning, this has allowed us to become more targeted and effective. Losses were recouped within six months, and our team's morale and capacity have increased.
We are motivated by our vision of Elevating IT service, Raising the standard of IT support. Our clients know they are getting fast responses, excellent customer service, high quality IT service, and team who is watching their back so that they too can be successful.
We are thrilled with the results we have experienced in our traction journey. We have matured as a company in our capacity, performance, thoroughness, consistency, values, vision, and clarity. We are committed to continually improving and making our vision and values clear. This allows us to lead our team without dictating all aspects of what they do and let them achieve better results. We have had a long time focus of having employees who love what they do. Traction helps us work through our faults and challenges, shape our culture, and accelerate our successes.
