How and Why to Roll Out EOS Throughout Your Company

Your leadership team has been using EOS® for months now, and you’ve gotten the hang of the Five Foundational Tools. Congratulations! Now it’s time to think about rolling out EOS to your entire company, at every level.

It can be scary to roll out EOS throughout your company, because it’s an enormous task. How would you coordinate such a game-changing process? What happens to the company if you fail? Even if you succeed, how will the rollout impact productivity and daily operations?

It sounds like a lot of risk. Why not just use EOS at the leadership team level, where the big-picture decisions are being made, and let the rest of the company continue doing the good work they’re doing on a daily basis?

It can be daunting to roll out the EOS tools. As an extreme example, one of my clients waited over two years to roll out any tools beyond the leadership team. But you can successfully implement EOS throughout your organization much faster. Let’s explore the reasons your company should use EOS at all levels, and how you can do it successfully.

Why You Should Implement EOS Throughout Your Company

Companies that implement EOS at every level tend to have much greater success and fewer frustrations than organizations that only use EOS as a leadership team. These companies get everyone in the organization, from top to bottom, speaking the same language with one common set of rules for all. It also frees up the leadership team to be more strategic – advancing the business farther and faster than ever before. And they do it with a sense of ease. It isn’t overwhelming or stressful. They do this all with a balance between work life and home life.

Specifically, there are five game-changing reasons you should roll out EOS throughout your entire company.

1) Everyone Buys into the Company Vision

Rolling out your company’s V/TO™ gets everyone excited and on the same page about your Company Vision. When everyone in the organization gets it and wants it, they put more effort into their work. This makes every employee more productive and more engaged.

2) Weed Out Bad Hires

If you’ve got the wrong people in the wrong seats, they won’t linger long in your company if you’re using the Accountability Chart and People Analyzer™. Bad hires won’t last, because the issue gets smoked out faster. Either they get on the right track, or they leave the company (by quitting or being fired). Using these tools helps prevent wrong people/wrong seat issues from lingering.

3) Everyone Performs Better

When you roll out the Scorecard for all of your employees, everyone in the company knows how they’re doing and where they stand, based on their number. Every week, they know whether they’re doing a good job or a poor job. There are no surprises, and there’s no room for disagreement, because they’re being held accountable to clear and measurable standards that they have direct control over on a daily and weekly basis.

Handpicked related content: 5 Ways to Improve Accountability at Every Level of Your Organization

4) Every Voice Is Heard

Many companies foster dissension and resentment among employees, because they don’t have a forum to be heard. But if you follow the Meeting Pulse™ at every level, your employees have a voice. And every department is solving problems, for good!

Rolling out Level 10 Meetings™ gives every employee a role in identifying and solving issues at the root cause. You eliminate a culture of complaint because every issue is identified, discussed, and solved in a healthy way.

5) Cut Wasted Effort

When everyone has a Rock, you ensure that all of each employee knows the company’s priorities and their own priorities every 90 days. They know the most important use of their time, cutting wasted time and resources on efforts that aren’t a priority. Your employees become more valuable to the company, and their energies are directed at the right things (i.e., the most important use of their time during this 90-day period).

How to Roll Out EOS at Every Level

There’s no “right” way to roll out EOS throughout your company, because every company is different. But many organizations follow a basic, systematic rollout plan that they can tweak as needed. Here’s what that looks like.

Learn to walk before you run

Make sure your leadership team understands EOS and can use it confidently before teaching others to use it. For most companies of 10-250 employees, it usually starts at about three to six months. Then rolling out tools to everyone in the company having takes one or two years – sometimes faster, sometimes longer.

Also make sure your leadership team is on the same page about who is doing what, by when, and how. Otherwise, you’ll cause damage in your company, because the blind is leading the blind.

Answer the question, What the heck is EOS?

Have every employee read What the Heck Is EOS? This book introduces EOS to everyone in your company. It lays out the five foundational tools in an easy-to-understand way, and explains why each tool matters. It’s a terrific resource to help everyone get clarity on EOS and to get excited about rolling it out.

Roll out one EOS tool at a time, one level at a time

Start with your leadership team’s direct reports and roll out the Level 10 Meeting. The next quarter, roll it out to your direct reports’ direct reports. At the same time, introduce Rocks or the Scorecard to your direct reports. This way, you introduce one tool per quarter to each level. The next quarter, that level rolls the tool out to the level below it.

Continue in this manner until every tool has been rolled out at every level of your company.

Tweak as needed

If you need to, you can roll out at a different speed. Adjust as needed, and do what works for your company, at the pace you need.

I’ve seen teams roll out EOS too quickly, and it created misunderstandings and bad habits. The leadership team had to go back and undo the behaviors that had been formed. Much of their rollout created wasted time and frustration.

Make mistakes

It’s important to remember that everybody will make mistakes. Your direct reports will mess up from time to time, just like your leadership team did when you first started with EOS. That’s okay. Give people the room to learn and you’ll have a successful rollout company-wide.

Enjoy a Successful Rollout

Remember, EOS rollout is a journey. It takes most companies the better part of a year to fully implement the Five Foundational Tools at all levels. Tweak the process to fit your company, give it the time it takes, and don’t be afraid of a few bumps in the road. You’ll get there, and your entire business will start gaining new traction!

Want some help with EOS rollout? Let’s talk about how I can help you get through it smoothly. Schedule a 15-minute call today.