Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner!! – A Case Study in Creating 90 Day Sprints
There isn’t a business planning structure out there that doesn’t include some sort of quarterly goals & reward tool. EOS, Aileron, Great Game of Business, Ownership Thinking…. the list goes on and on.
Our Prosper for Business system includes our version, 90-Day Sprints. These are hyper-focused, high-energy, SMART goals that will push the business forward and relate directly to one of our annual strategic objectives, as set forth in Cascading Metrics, our annual planning tool.No one wants to miss out on setting our 90-Day Sprints because they are fun! As a result, the team religiously sets them. We’ve found a good formula for us is, a stretch sales goal paired with an efficiency project. Those who are responsible for the goals report out weekly at our morning huddle, so the entire team knows where we stand. The report system is simple:
Statement of goals
Reminder of the reward
Accounting of progress toward the goal (and key actions that move the team closer to achievement)
Cascading messages, which are any things the entire team need to know that influence goal achievement
For our 90-Day Sprint ending September 15, 2020, we set our reward as a homemade fried chicken dinner from the queen herself, Mackey McNeill. Mackey’s fried chicken is based on a family recipe and over the years has developed its own cult-like following. Since it is a ton of work, with lots of hot grease, it takes quite a bit to persuade Mackey to cook it. But in the excitement of setting the 3rd quarter goals, she volunteered! A new first.
Only one person on the team had partaken in this famed chicken, and she was quick to build up the excitement and wet everyone’s taste buds. While this reward seemed a bit “silly”, it met the fun criteria and was highly motivating to our team. Everyone seemed to be working toward our shared goal with an increased vigor. And wouldn’t you know it, we hit our goal and on September 20 the team got their reward!
Mackey made the entire team PLUS their families a delicious fried chicken dinner. We brought picnic blankets, camp chairs and masks. It was a lovely, sun-filled day spent together. Mackey cooked 5 whole chickens, and there were a scant 3 pieces left at the end of the celebration. The chicken, and Mackey’s cooking, lived up to its legend. And perhaps, just maybe, to another 90-day Sprint challenge.
Check out the photos to see more!