Three things said out loud

Every Monday morning I take twenty minutes with a one page pack in front of me that carries the quarter's numbers, a list of what is blocked and on whom, and the decisions the meeting has to take.

The blocked list names who each item waits on and how long it has waited, which puts a name and an age beside every delay in the business.

The last section of the pack is empty when the meeting starts, and the owner fills it in out loud with the three things that will move the week. The following Monday opens by reading those three back.

A weekly meeting runs on one small loop, what was promised, what happened and what gets promised next. Without the first part it reports on the past and commits nobody to anything before Friday.

The decisions section lists the calls the meeting exists to make, with a recommendation where there is one and a plain note where there is none. A decision gets taken in the room or it carries over to the next pack with its age beside it.

I keep it to three, a number that fits in one breath. Each one has to be something that can be called done or not done by the next Monday, which rules out most of the items that start with the word improve.

Counting works at a smaller scale too, before any weekly meeting exists. Take last week job by job, write down who did each one and how long it took, and the first honest picture of the week is on the page. The Capacity Indicator walks an owner through that count, shows what Claude could take off them, and prices the hours at the rate of whoever does the jobs, with the research behind each range shown on its line.

It is free, and you can start it at capacity.yourspinstate.com