The Power of Intention: Less is More
This blog post was originally written before COVID-19 challenges disrupted businesses across the country. Although we debated waiting to publish it, the importance of companies to focus and align in vision is now more important than ever.
By: Louise Oliver and Hanlon Walsh
There are defining turning points that shift the trajectory of every company. It seems we are all living out a version of this reality as a result of these current challenges. A previous example of a turning point for us was the day we realized our firm needed to drastically refocus our workload approach. Our team had spent the past few months working hard and cranking through projects but were at the point of complete exhaustion (sound familiar to any other business owners?). With clients across multiple industries, new challenges faced with each looming deadline, and still having to run a growing business, there weren’t enough hours in the day to accomplish what we considered “priorities.”
For years, Peritus built an “above and beyond” reputation by providing on-demand feedback and a willingness to go the extra mile to exceed client expectations. This approach helped us build unprecedented client loyalty.
Seven years later, we reached a point in our growth where the firm needed to better protect our time and resources by scaling smarter. We realized the team was spending countless hours in the weeds working on tactical efforts that produced results, but the process seemed more like a checklist.
This workload toll can impact even the most dedicated and inspiring rising stars in the public relations field. To be a firm that not only has a genuinely supportive work culture, we had to walk the talk and figure out a way to still service our clients with the Peritus signature, but also avoid burnout.
How does any company face their next chapter while balancing its team’s only true commodity – time – with increasingly demanding expectations and uncertainties?
Looking for a solution, our team read Measure What Matters for our Peritus Book Club, a must-read for any growing small business. The book outlines a proven business concept that demands a complete mindset shift in a company’s goal-setting approach. When we asked local well-respected small businesses Airship and Knight Eady their approach to growing smart, we realized that they too had shifted their firms’ mentality to follow best practices from Measure What Matters.
After discussing lessons learned with these business owners (and even hosting a lunch & learn with Airship’s CEO), we decided to focus on building intentional mindsets across our team.
Instead of treating our day like one giant checklist, we now prioritize our time and efforts based on overall, bigger picture goals. Throughout this continued learning process with OKRs, we are shifting our approach to avoid building out major scope of works at the beginning of campaigns, and instead coordinate objective-based campaigns each quarter that align back to ever-changing client and internal goals. This has been a game changer over the past few weeks helping clients navigate through challenging circumstances to leverage communications more effectively than ever.
In just over two months, we’ve already accomplished:
Restructured our firm’s policies to help us continue employing the most inspired team in the state
Increased our reputation as Alabama’s most trusted communications firm with national thought leadership features in PRSA’s Strategies and Tactics
Strengthened our relationship with value-aligned partners to focus more on quality projects that support goals instead of checking tactics off a to-do list
Supported and still serving as a trusted sounding board during COVID-19 for our clients during major shifts to their workflow, operations and communications
We all get pulled into the daily disruptions, but our team is able now to adapt more quickly than ever, and synergize on aligned efforts that utilize objectives and key results to create impact.
This has helped us get out of the weeds, better commit to priorities, connect for teamwork synergy, hold each other accountable, and stretch in ways we never imagined.
The Path to Intention Has its Roadblocks
Sure, there are certainly challenges when you are shifting a firm’s mindset and DNA. Our team jokes if they had a nickel for every time they hear me say “OKR,” they would be rich. For any company considering this shift, here are a few road blocks we faced during our experience worth sharing:
Give everyone a seat at the table: Complete buy-in is crucial when introducing a new team initiative. It takes time, continued coaching
conversations and open feedback discussions.
Prioritize the non-urgent: When client deadlines are looming, it is challenging to focus on internal and community initiatives, even if those efforts align with the firm’s overall vision.
Understand it is a marathon, not a sprint: The process is only beginning when a team agrees to read a book on OKRs and make their first attempt at developing goals. Although the mentality shift doesn’t happen overnight, there will be a game changing moment. For us, it was when we noticed the team was getting comfortable and motivated enough to practice OKR goal setting in their internal planning meetings.
Shift your course when the tides turn. When we developed our OKRs back in December, we didn’t plan for a global pandemic to impact our public health, the economy and our daily lives. As a result, we’ve had to adjust our OKRS to ensure we best support our clients and team as we navigate these unchartered waters together.
Our PUBLISHED by Peritus takeaway is this:
Less really is more, but that doesn’t mean shifting to an intentional mindset is going to be easy. Stay tuned for part two of this post where we will focus on the first steps you can take to start an intentional OKR system, and lessons learned from our experience. We encourage company leaders to explore this OKR system as an opportunity to support the longevity of their business, especially in the face of uncertainty.