Milestones are well-defined stepping stones on the path to achieving Rocks — smaller, more manageable goals that build toward Rocks.
What are Rocks?
If you’re familiar with EOS, you’ve likely heard of Rocks. The term “Rocks” is the EOS way of saying “priorities” — the most important handful of things you must accomplish in the next 90 days. Company Rocks are priorities for the company, departmental rocks are priorities for your department, and individual rocks are priorities for individuals. The individual and department Rocks should align with company priorities.
90 days is too long for Rocks.
Gino Wickman says in his book Traction that people can’t look out more than 90 days, and that’s why Rocks are set for 90 days. In my experience, 90 days is too long. It’s not uncommon for people to discard New Year’s Resolutions after a week, so how can we expect them to stay focused on and committed to something for three months? Most people are more successful obtaining a goal if they break it down into smaller, more manageable pieces.
Milestones are the solution.
The antidote to our very natural, very human tendency to put off tasks is simple: milestones. Milestones are well-defined stepping stones on the path to achieving Rocks — smaller, more manageable goals that build toward Rocks. Traction briefly touches on the concept of milestones, but in my opinion, not enough. That is why our business operating system, PHOENIX, is different; we place emphasis on creating SMART milestones.
Biweekly check-ins are good, weekly are even better.
Milestone check-ins work best when they are weekly, or bi-weekly at the very least. If you establish an employee’s goals for 90 days out and, in your meetings, you simply ask that person, “are you on track?” it’s easy for him or her to give a dismissive “yes” without giving it much thought. It’s much harder to do if that person has established milestones that are being regularly discussed and followed up on.
With PHOENIX, we set weekly milestones check-ins, often incorporating them into regularly scheduled one-on-ones. This approach is particularly important at the department level, where meetings may be scheduled less frequently than leadership team meetings. The discussion about milestone progress can be brief, but bringing it to the forefront of the individual’s mind is paramount.
Define Milestones using SMART.
That brings me to how a milestone should be defined. Every goal should have clear milestones associated with it. I like to use the SMART goal-setting method* to define goals and milestones:
Example: “By the end of Q3, I will have created and deployed a digital customer satisfaction survey to at least five customers of projects that I managed.”
If your departmental employees have goals and you’re only checking in with them quarterly, you’re missing out on some important touch-points. Milestones are the solution, and they will help you and your employees take your business to the next level.
* Doran, G. T. (1981). "There's a S.M.A.R.T. way to write management's goals and objectives." Management Review. 70 (11): 35–36.
Project Smart was the first website to put the SMART definition online. Shortly after, the site was contacted by George T. Doran's son, Sean Doran, who confirmed that his father had developed the SMART acronym in November 1981.
###
To continue to grow and learn please visit my resources page and check out a few of my other articles and free tools.
If you are ready to begin the process of creating a work-life blend that is right for you, and help your people do the same, please click here.
If improving business operations is at the top of your list click here or if you want to reach me directly, click here.
