Daily update: accelerate your path to results by ensuring alignment
This video and the article is part of a series of exercises taken from the ResultMaps workshop, “How to Accelerate Results with Accountability + Ownership." These exercises work best when preceded by the exercises on monitoring progress and the weekly meeting rhythm.
Day-to-day accountability aligns teams to big picture priorities and values. In this article, we’ll cover how to establish and maintain accountability and ownership across our teams even amid changing circumstances and accelerated timelines. By the end of this article, we will provide you with insights into leveraging three key concepts - velocity, autonomy, and accountability - to enhance day-to-day accountability.
A simple daily practice to increase velocity
Velocity, or the rate at which we progress from point A to point B, is crucial. Speed alone can lead to circular movement in your company without the actual advancement of the business. Accelerating velocity requires a combination of accountability and autonomy, which can be achieved by doing a daily, 90-second reflection practice. In ResultMaps, this is called the Daily Update.
Three fundamental questions guide this daily practice:
What progress did you make today? This question encourages the communication of achievements, irrespective of scale, fostering a culture of acknowledging and sharing progress.
What's your number one priority for the next day? The focus here is on identifying the most critical task that aligns with strategic objectives, emphasizing the importance of prioritization.
Is anything stuck or blocked? This question aims to uncover obstacles or friction points hindering progress toward established priorities.
The unlock of daily communication
Recording and communicating these three pieces of information to the team is essential:
It forms the basis for diagnosing accountability gaps
It provides valuable insights for swift corrective action
It serves as a tool for proactive issue identification, fostering an environment where challenges are surfaced early, enabling rapid adjustments
Effective communication is a key element in preventing projects and deliveries from going off course. Creating space for individuals to report issues, changes, or unforeseen challenges contributes to transparency and allows for quick adjustments. While this practice is not about monitoring every step, it ensures that everyone is making progress along the expected path.
The importance of the daily rhythm
The overarching goal of these daily practices is to assess quickly if everyone is on track. It goes beyond monitoring individual steps and focuses on ensuring forward momentum. Trust is reinforced when team members proactively address challenges, showcasing a commitment to the team's success. In instances of trouble accelerating or hitting targets, issues tend to hide, leading to delayed problem-solving. The daily check-in acts as a proactive way to surface and address issues, fostering a culture of open communication and trust.
These daily practices provide visibility and forward momentum, addressing the natural tendency of our brains to forget recent wins and progress. By encouraging open communication and proactive issue reporting, teams can build cohesion and move collectively toward shared objectives. The three questions—done, next, blocked—establish a rhythm for both progress and issue resolution, contributing to a successful weekly cadence.
Understanding the progress principle
Often, we witness the launch of promising initiatives, championed by CEOs and management, only to see their momentum diminish over time. Friction surfaces, focus is lost, and initiatives veer off course, leaving people disconnected and awareness dwindling. The daily update practice aims to prevent such scenarios, ensuring sustained momentum and focus. The goal is not micromanagement but the cultivation of extreme ownership and tapping into the progress principle.
The progress principle, proven and tested through research, highlights the motivational impact of connecting work to a greater purpose. Teams that thrive amidst change and take ownership connect their work to something beyond themselves, finding meaning in contributing to coworkers, customers, or larger objectives. Daily check-ins, as observed in a 15-minute practice, serve as a powerful tool for fostering this connection.
The daily check-in involves a 90-second practice, a concise reflection summarizing progress, top priorities for the next day, and any existing obstacles or blockers. Simplifying the process to 90 seconds encourages regular engagement and serves as a proactive means to identify and address challenges. This daily reflection, inspired by the progress principle, enhances engagement, motivation, and accountability.
To ensure alignment and connection, the overall journey is outlined in a simple story format. Three major targets for the year, near-term goals for the next 90 days, and success measurement create a clear picture. Driving and steering mechanisms, such as the weekly workshop, mission boundaries, and strategy, guide the journey, acknowledging that change is inevitable.
The 90-second practice serves as a crucial element in providing visibility into the system. It enables managers to gain insights into progress, identify friction points, and steer teams effectively without micromanagement. This practice not only benefits teams by uplifting engagement but also aids managers in saving time on follow-ups and creating a trail of success. Ultimately, the daily check-in becomes a valuable tool for driving accountability and sustaining momentum in initiatives.