Shape Up And Ship Out
Coming up in March this year, BBT will be 8 years old. Crazy to think we are closing in on a decade in business. It feels like yesterday we started tapping away on a couple of computers in the back of a storage room. Now we’re a team of over 40 people with clients in NZ, AU, US and the UK.
At this time of year, the planning is done, the goals are set – it’s now about getting the job done. Coming off the back to two years of lockdowns, and with still so much uncertainty around the world, I feel this will be one of our most challenging yet.
I’ve written previously about my learnings in the past two years, and a lot of that has boiled down to setting goals, communicating effectively and collaborating with each other. What I haven’t spoken about too much is the framework in which we do that.
This is something that for 8 years I’ve been trying to get right. While it’s always going to be a work in progress, I feel like I have stumbled upon a framework that is pretty unique and is getting some impressive results. And ironically, it was right in front of my nose for years.
Historically, BBT has run the year by breaking it down into quarters, each with their own goals and OKRs. The problem I find is that 12 weeks is a long time in our world. We need to constantly be sprinting to keep up, let alone get ahead. By focusing on quarters, it’s also too easy to push tasks or things to “the next quarter”.
I’ve been wanting to put in place a framework that can help facilitate speed, while making sure everyone is along on the journey.
Enter the shape up process…
For those in the business of product or software development, the “agile” process will be quite a commonly understood term. For those that aren’t, it’s a popular way of building software whereby features are broken down into achievable tasks within a “sprint” cycle.
Every two weeks, the team “sprint” to complete all those tasks, then we all check in to see if we need to make any changes or reprioritise before executing the next sprint.
Two weeks is far too short of a timeframe to make any meaningful impact to a business, however the methodology, I think, is sound. And so, at BBT we have moved from quarterly goals to 6 weekly OKRs and termed it the “shape up process”.
At the beginning of a six week cycle, department heads get together to discuss their challenges, their goals, and what they need help with. Everyone gets a say and everyone throws up what their priorities are and how they align to the annual BBT OKRs.
Then we discuss, dive deep and challenge each other. Each department has an open mandate to offer their thoughts and opinions to each other, and we get some really positive, and at times, constructive discussions going on.
At the end of that session, once we are all talked out, each department head outlines what they’re going to deliver in six weeks. Most of the time there are three or four things on the list.
Sometimes there are more, and sometimes there is only one. This is called “shaping” what we are wanting to get done.
Then, in three weeks time we touch base to make sure everything is on track. Knowing, in another three weeks, we all need to stand up in front of our colleagues and show how we have “shipped out” the changes we set out to make.
We implemented this not too long ago, and the changes have been incredible. We are moving a lot faster with much greater clarity, and the collaboration is unlike anything I have seen. Our department heads are really aligned, not just on their department OKRs, but understanding what the exact impact is on other departments when changes affect them.
Having a meeting every three weeks I have found gives enough space for people to do their job, but we stay connected enough that people aren’t going down a path that isn’t intended. Then having a six weekly deep dive, has meant we move quickly. If needed, reducing the scope of some changes to achieve progress quickly.
So, it’s early days, but I feel like this new shape up process is going to do us wonders this year. Especially in a year where being agile is going to be a necessity. Stay tuned.
