What is your Management Operating System (mOS)?
Another phrase I've heard a good sales leader use for this is "rhythm of the business"
Recently, when laying down some advice with a growing startup I got to talking about the concept of a Management Operating System or what I’m coining here as an mOS.
Essentially, this is your flow of meetings and checkpoints related to the areas of responsibility that you oversee as a department or company leader. These meetings (if done and prepared for properly - and that’s a big IF) are high on management leverage and also ensure two-way communication flow around what’s happening in the business and where optimizations could be had. As companies grow, it becomes harder and harder for senior leaders to be properly informed on what’s happening in the trenches and this system de-risks that.
Although these aren’t principled in stone, here’s my latest approach to an operating cadence for SaaS revenue leaders leading teams in the 5-25M scale up phase. This framework can apply to managers at any level you’ll just want to adjust based on your respective high-leverage activities. NOTE: This doesn't include one-off tactical sessions involving teams or managers and I consider these to be fluid and will change continually as needed.
WEEKLY:
Executive Team Meeting (Exec Team)
Direct Report 1:1s (Reporting line 1:1s)
Cross-Functional Department 1:1s (Marketing)
Pipeline Review Meeting
BI-WEEKLY:
Ray Strategic Sales Team Meeting (every 2 weeks offset with Manager Tactical)
First-Line Manager(s) Tactical Sales Team Meeting (every 2 weeks offset with Ray Strategic)
Cross-Functional 1:1s (Customer Success, HR/People/Recruiting, Product, Engineering, Finance)
MONTHLY:
Company Meeting / All-Hands
QUARTERLY:
Simple Performance Reviews
Where did you excel last quarter?
What would you like to improve?
What are your goals for next quarter?
OKR Planning / Execution
Board Meeting
BI-ANNUALLY:
Skip Levels - SDR Contributors
Skip Levels - AE Contributors
Skip Levels - Mgr / Other team members
1H/2H QBRs - 2x per year; Month 1 and Month 7 of Fiscal
ANNUALLY:
Revenue Kickoff
Got something you’d add or is worth calling out in your mOS? How about something to add as you march from 25M - 100M?
I’d love to hear it in the comments below.