Execution 101 – Simple Steps to Start Getting Things Done

Getting things done is the foundation of every successful business and the CEO is where it all starts and ends. This article will give you some practical advice on how to get started quickly and easily.

Getting the right things done is so important for companies that a vast industry of consultants, books, training, and technology platforms have emerged over the last 30 years to assist in this process. The subject has been the subject of discussion and debate for centuries and has even appeared in military doctrine going back as far as Alexander the Great. It is just this vastness of available options that has so complicated the problem for executives. These leaders spend more time sorting through the possibilities than getting the important things done.

This is my first post on this subject, but it certainly won’t be my last. I will try to start simple and lay out some very practical steps that can get you started on the path towards quick results.

Individual Accountability

Execution is a discipline; it must be practiced and developed. It requires investment in learning and honesty in your assessment of your weaknesses and failure. In one word, it requires ACCOUNTABILITY.

The accountability starts with YOU. There is nothing that will defeat the execution discipline in a business more than the hypocrisy of the CEO. The CEO must the shining star of execution and hold themselves to a higher standard than the rest of the team. It means being proactive in acknowledging your shortfalls and being prepared to explain why you missed and how you are going to improve.

I recommend you start with your own accountability system and make sure that you are sound in the fundamentals. Do you build a list of priorities every day? We’ll get into the “how” you determine something is important another time, but for now do you have a list? Do you write it down? Do you check/cross it off when you get done? What happens when something doesn’t get done?

The point of these questions is not to suggest a specific way for you to manage your priorities, but instead to get you comfortable with the idea of personal accountability. Tracking an intended action/result and reconciling whether the outcome occurred is the beginning. If you don’t learn to assess and adjust from your misses and you don’t try to improve your process for managing accountability, you will have difficulty with your execution.

Accountability Basics

Effective execution tracking is about setting clear EXPECTATIONS:

Define the What Clearly – There should be enough information recorded that you can clearly understand what is expected to achieve the desired result (action to be taken, results to be achieved, etc.). Too often, lack of clarity in the notation makes accountability difficult. Also, be cautious of being too broad in defining a task. If you can’t tell whether the task was complete, it probably needs refining.
Define the Who is Responsible – If anyone else is involved, define who “owns” the task.
Define the When – Defining when can, generally should, mean multiple dates. Start date, completion date, authorization date, announcement date, etc. may all be applicable to a task. Too often, the failure to bring clarity will lead to accountability issues.
Define the Where, if applicable – If location is relevant to the deliverable, make sure it is clear. What if there are multiple locations? (I made the mistake of assuming that a particular action would be taken at multiple facilities by a given date. If more than half were done, but the rest weren’t, was the task complete?) Breaking a task into multiple tasks may help clarify.
Define the How, if applicable – Sometimes it is important to be clear about “how” a task is completed, or “how much” when it comes to spending, in order to eliminate make expectations clear.

Once your expectations are clear, you have an objective basis upon which to judge performance. Are things getting done as planned? If not, why? The point is not about perfection. If you are getting everything done on the list every day, week, or month, you are not challenging yourself to excellence. But are most things getting done as planned?

Practice the process on yourself and develop some level of mastery. This doesn’t take months; if you are practicing this every day, you can get a good sense what works and what doesn’t within a few weeks. You will then be ready to start the process with the team.

Starting with the Team

If you have no tools or process in place to track accountability with your team, it is quite easy to start with a spreadsheet. Simply creating columns that address the basics listed above can get you going. You should consider adding a column for notes that can be used to capture progress information next to each item. However, the tool is less important than the process that captures the information.

You should be spending most of your time in this process defining deliverables in a manner that expectations are crystal clear AND the task can be completed in a month or less. If a deliverable is going to take more than a month, break it down into smaller bites; it will make accountability easier.

The process should also have a strong ownership component. The process should be interactive, ideally involving the entire team together. Each task owner should clearly acknowledge to the team that they are accepting and agree with the commitment. It may seem obvious, but the verbal commitment by a team member will go a long way towards getting results.

Accountability with the Team

Holding your team accountable is the toughest part of execution. Doing so in a constructive fashion is key. Team members should feel uncomfortable when they fail to meet commitments, but at the same time it shouldn’t be demoralizing. The process is about learning and communication. Is the problem a lack of clarity in the definition of the task, the planning for the task (i.e. timeline or resources), or is the failure poor prioritization?

Helping your team through this process and getting them comfortable with accountability will go a long way to building an organization with great execution skills.

Examples

Documenting Deliverables – Nothing in execution is perfect, but bringing more clarity to the process will always improve the outcome:
- Good: Update Capital Budget
- Better: Update Capital Budget for Plant Improvements
- Best: Update Capital Budget for Plant Improvements to respond to customer growth
Simple Execution Spreadsheet – It doesn’t need to be complicated to get started.

Summary

Execution management is one of the more important leadership skills. Effective execution is necessary to move the business forward and implement any strategy. Without skilled execution, the organization will be adrift and is likely to end up on the rocks.

Making sure that expectations are clear (and documented) is critical to the process. Mutual accountability is required for the process to be credible and effective. Honest assessment and critique of results will drive improvements in the process and the results of execution.

What obstacles to execution have you encountered? How did you overcome them?