Company CEOs: It is Time to Get Locked and Loaded!

July 18, 2011

At the beginning of each quarter, you need to make sure that your company is locked and loaded to take on the quarter.  Periodically, I try to remind people of the checklist that I created to help company CEOs do just that.  Hopefully, you can check off all of the items on the list!

The CEO list to be Locked and Loaded for the Quarter:

1. Each department/team has checked their results for the previous quarter against its SMART Goals, KPIs, and budgets and understands where they succeeded and failed.

2. Each department/team has reflected on the quarter and has answered the following questions* over a full 1-2 hour conversation for each of the main initiatives and for the general results of the department/team:

  • what was expected to happen?
  • what actually occurred?
  • what went well, and why?
  • what can be improved and how?

3. Each department/team has reviewed their annual goals and has proposed the next set of priority quarterly initiatives with SMART Goals. In addition, the team has proposed changes to the annual goals, if appropriate.

4. The Senior team and board have reviewed each team’s goals against the annual goals for the company, appropriately adjusted each department/team’s priority goals and is committed to the final goals for the quarter. In addition, the senior team and board have reviewed the annual goals, KPIs and budget for the next quarter and have made adjustments to them, if appropriate.

5. Quarterly goals have been broken down by departments/teams into initiatives and projects for the quarter. The department/teams have committed to nailing the goals, and they are off to the races.

6. Each individual knows their goals for the quarter and year and they are aligned with our company goals, and each individual knows how their performance impacts the company performance.

Are you locked and loaded for the quarter?

Founder & Partner

As the founder of OpenView, Scott focuses on distinctive business models and products that uniquely address a meaningful market pain point. This includes a broad interest in application and infrastructure companies, and businesses that are addressing the next generation of technology, including SaaS, cloud computing, mobile platforms, storage, networking, IT tools, and development tools.