Having introduced you to the P, S, and E of the PSE Method last month, I’ll spend the next few months taking you through the first 90 days of the process. It all starts with PSE Day 1.

This first day focuses more on Execution.

Our original approach to working with clients was to start them off with a company-wide Organizational Assessment (OA). An exercise designed to uncover issues and create initiatives to solve those problems. But we found that most companies weren’t ready to tackle the bigger issues we uncovered. They had not yet developed their “execution muscles”.

They were stuck in the day-to-day with no process for execution. With no way to move themselves from point A to point B effectively. They were constantly distracted by the day-to-day fires that arose and were unable to focus their efforts on bigger, more important projects.

We also found that almost every OA uncovered problems with communication and accountability. Pretty much invariably. The majority of our clients’ problems traced back to poor communication and a lack of accountability.

So we redesigned our process to start by addressing the communication and accountability issues and developing those “execution muscles”. That’s what PSE Day 1 is all about. And then you’ll start creating a new long-term vision and strategy in PSE Days 2 and 3.

The day starts with a team debrief.

You will have each completed a Behavioral Assessment and we’ll take you through a review of those results together. This will help you all get to know each other better and learn each other’s working and communication styles a little more in-depth. It is a short exercise but it will help you grow as a team and be better prepared to work together moving forward.

Then we’ll work on creating your Key Accountabilities Chart. Basically, a beefed-up organizational chart, the Key Accountabilities Chart makes sure you have the right structure for your company. We’ll create the seats first and then put people in them. The goal is to create the right and best structure for your company to be most effective. Regardless of who is currently on your staff.

Then we’ll teach you our Problem Solving Process that helps ensure that you are solving problems once and making them go away forever. The key here is root cause identification. You cannot solve a problem if you don’t truly understand it. You have to dig down and uncover the root cause of the problem in order to solve it permanently. Otherwise, you’ll just see the same problem popping up on a different day.

Then we will work to set Rocks or 90 day priorities. These are simply 90 day goals that help you keep your eye on the ball by focusing your efforts on your 3-7 most important priorities. As humans, we often get distracted by what the authors of Four Disciplines of Execution call the whirlwind of the day-to-day. Having these top priorities clearly laid out will keep you and your team better focused on what your goals are. And it will help bring you back on track if you start chasing shiny objects.

A major component of improving your execution is improving your meetings.

A lot of people we talk to absolutely dread meetings. But it’s not the meetings’ fault. It is the way the meetings are being run. They are often boring, ineffective, and draining.

We’ll teach you a meeting agenda that helps you understand exactly how your company is doing in just twenty-five minutes, keeps you focused on your goals, and helps you remove obstacles to growth each and every week. This weekly meeting is part of our larger Meeting Cadence that helps keep you and your team consistently moving forwards and taking your company to new heights.

You’ll spend part of this weekly meeting reviewing your Dashboard, which we’ll create on PSE Day 1. It is a simple Dashboard of 5 to 15 metrics that gives you a complete understanding of how your company is running at a glance. So you’ll always be aware of what’s happening within your company and can see problems before they arise.

Lastly, we’ll wrap up for the day. We’ll craft any cascading messages that you might need to relay to the rest of the company based on what we’ve discussed. Any decisions that you made or any new information that has come to light. You must decide who needs to know and how you are going to tell them.

Then we’ll make sure that everyone understands what To Dos they’ve agreed to accomplish so that there is no confusion about who is doing what. Remember, we’re focused on improving communication and accountability.

The final step of PSE Day 1 is a Go or No Go decision.

After each of these days together you have the option to continue on in the process or to stop right there. If you choose to Go, we’ll meet again in 30 days for PSE Day 2. If you choose No Go, we’ll make sure you have everything you need to use what you’ve learned in PSE Day 1 and wish you luck.

Our goal is to provide value to you. If you ever feel that we are not doing so, we encourage you to let us know. There’s no point in wasting either your time or ours if you don’t think the PSE Method is right for you and your company. We believe in the power of this system, but it isn’t for everyone.

The PSE Method can help get your company unstuck and moving towards your goals again.

It is singularly focused on helping your company run more effectively and efficiently. It provides a structure upon which you can build your company that will lead to more profitability and more predictability. Everyone will be playing from the same playbook. And you’ll all be on the same page about where you’re going and how you’re going to get there.

By implementing the PSE Method you will be improving communication and building in accountability across your company so that you can take your company to the next level.

If you’d like to learn more about the PSE Method, give us a call today.