You’re a manager of a team in a company running on EOS® and the leadership team just met with your EOS Implementer to set company-wide and departmental Rocks for the quarter.
Now it’s your turn to set rocks with your team.
Your role is to translate that strategic focus down to your team—so everyone is clear on what matters most, and how their work contributes to the bigger picture.
Here’s a simple framework to help you guide your team through effective Rock setting and milestone planning:
🔍 Step 1: Share the Vision
Start by reviewing the VTO with your team including company Rocks and your department’s Rocks for the next quarter. Then ask your team:
- “What do we need to do this quarter to support these rocks?”
- “What must be true by the end of the quarter for us to say we made real progress toward the company vision?”
This gets your team thinking in terms of outcomes, not just activity.
🎯 Step 2: Help Individuals Set SMART Rocks
Once the team identifies key outcomes, help them each define 1–3 SMART Rocks that support the departmental focus:
- Specific – Clear, simple, and action-oriented
- Measurable – You know what “done” looks like
- Achievable – Realistic for this quarter
- Relevant – Directly supports the team or company priorities
- Time-bound – Due this quarter
Encourage the team to help each other make sure the Rocks are clear, the right person owns each one, and they meet the SMART criteria.
📅 Step 3: Decide the Right Type of Plan
Once a Rock is set, ask: How complex is this Rock?
Then choose one of three planning levels:
- Simple – One clear action or project with a due date
- Scorecard-Based – Progress tracked via a weekly number (e.g., “Hit $X in sales per week”)
- Milestone-Based – Rock broken into 3–10 steps with owners and target dates
Not every Rock needs a detailed plan—but if it’s complex or cross-functional, milestones help you stay on track.
🤖 Step 4: Use AI to Jumpstart the Plan (Optional but Powerful)
If your team needs help breaking things down, AI can accelerate planning. You can use prompts like:
- “Create a 90-day plan to achieve this Rock, with key milestones and deadlines.”
- “What must be true for this Rock to be marked complete by the end of the quarter?”
- “Give me a draft checklist to complete this Rock step-by-step.”
- “Based on the accountability chart for my team, create a plan to achieve this department Rock including who should complete each task and the order and dates the tasks should be done.”
The goal isn’t to replace thinking—it’s to move faster and gain clarity sooner.
📈 Step 5: Review Weekly in Your Team’s Level 10 Meeting
Once the Rocks are set, keep them front and center. Every week during your Level 10 Meeting, check:
- Is the Rock on track or off track?
- If we didn’t hit the milestones due the past week or the related scorecard metric is off track, the rock is off track.
- If off track, what’s the real issue?
IDS® off track Rocks together and remove the obstacle. Great Rocks aren’t set-and-forget—they’re driven every week.
Final Thought
As a manager, your job isn’t just to set Rocks—it’s to create a culture of execution.
When your team understands the “why,” sets clear outcomes, builds the right level of plan, and checks progress weekly, great things happen.
And when you do it consistently, quarter after quarter—you don’t just get more done.
You build better teams.
Want help training your managers or team leads to become better at Rock setting and execution? Let’s talk.
DM me or drop a comment below.
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