The EOS Model: Why it's Gaining Traction with Chambers
Three Chambers Share Their EOS Experience
What is EOS?
The EOS Model™, or Entrepreneurial Operating System®, is a set of concepts and tools to help leadership teams get what they want out of their businesses. Developed by entrepreneur Gino Wickman, EOS has been used by more 40,000 companies of all sizes. Among the core components of EOS are:
- Vision: Identifying your organization’s vision and making sure everyone is on board
- People: Getting the “right people in the right seats”
- Data: Using scorecards to track progress
Chamber leaders familiar with EOS stress that it is not a “flavor of the month” management style. Rather, it provides the tools, systems and structure to implement the best business principles that leaders already know about.
The EOS Model is explained in a series of books, including Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business by Wickman. A network of trained EOS implementers can be hired to help organizations through the process, although some businesses and chambers choose to “self-implement.” For more information, go to www.eosworldwide.com.
Michigan West Coast Chamber of Commerce
About four years ago, the Michigan West Coast Chamber of Commerce appeared to be at the top of its game. A finalist for ACCE’s Chamber of the Year, it had also earned five-star accreditation from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. President Jane Clark had navigated a successful merger of her Holland chamber with a nearby chamber.
Yet something was off. Things seemed “unsettled,” Clark said. A self-confessed micromanager, she was frustrated that the organization wasn’t achieving everything she thought it could. One day, a human relations consultant and chamber member suggested she read Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business. Written by Gino Wickman, the book explains his Entrepreneurial Operating System®, or EOS®, which offers the structure and tools for running a successful business, including a process for identifying core values, setting goals and determining metrics used to track progress.
While reading the book’s first page, Clark knew EOS was exactly what she needed. After learning that three members had implemented EOS and loved it, Clark found a certified implementer to talk to her and key staff members. Soon after, the chamber hired that implementer, and, she said, “EOS has been life-changing.”
“Here’s what EOS does: it gets everyone on the same page – staff, volunteers and board members,” says Clark. For the Michigan West Coast Chamber, the most transformative aspect of adapting EOS was defining the chamber’s core values, as defined by working through specific exercises. Now when she hires employees, she hires to the chamber’s core values, such as “Deliver remarkable experiences.”
The process of choosing ambassadors and board members is inextricably linked to core values, too. As a result of implementing EOS, all the chamber’s ambassadors were asked to re-apply by writing a paragraph about which core value they could most relate to. Over time, the Michigan West Coast Chamber developed scorecards (a basic EOS measuring tool) for ambassadors and board members, in addition to employees. The board scorecard, for example, delineates the expected number of outreach calls.
In the beginning, Clark says some staff members may be excited about EOS, while others may be scared. “For some, it may involve a new level of accountability,” she said. Another tenet of the system that can make everyone, including the president, feel vulnerable at times is open and honest communication. EOS encourages teams to address the issues within the organization that no one wants to talk about by creating an environment that is open to feedback and new ideas.
While EOS is simple to understand, Clark said it is not easy to implement. It’s hard work, but in the end it’s worth it. More than three years after embarking on the chamber’s EOS journey, Clark can point to several benefits, including increased member engagement and board involvement, higher member satisfaction and streamlined staff meetings. Clark said she has experienced improved staff alignment because EOS helped the chamber define, set and measure expectations.
The Quad Cities Chamber (Iowa and Illinois)
By their nature, chambers of commerce “are trying to change things that take a lot of time to change,” said Paul Rumler, president and CEO of the Quad Cities Chamber. It can be challenging for organizations to stay focused on long-term goals and keep employees energized along the way, he said, and that’s where EOS can help.
In the early stages of EOS implementation, businesses set an ultimate goal, or 10-Year Target™, in EOS parlance. From there, they work backwards and set three-year goals, annual goals and quarterly goals, he explains. To achieve these goals, organizations must also determine which metrics should be part of weekly scorecards that will gauge progress. “EOS provides clarity for everyone on your team about what you want to accomplish and what it’s going to take to get there,” Rumler said.
Rumler should know. He is helping to implement EOS for the second time in his chamber career, albeit in different roles. In the Quad Cities, he has taken on the role of visionary. The EOS model requires a visionary, or “creative problem-solver,” as well as an integrator, who manages daily issues and integrates sales and marketing, operations, and finance. While working for the Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce in Michigan, Rumler served as integrator.
Implementation of EOS causes chamber executives to view their organizations more like a business, he said. As a result, he looks at metrics in a whole new way. Rather than asking how many new members the chamber has recruited, he focuses on prospect visits--and whether the weekly goal was met. “Instead of talking about the end result, we are talking about the process and how it ties to the end result,” he said, providing a “rationale of why we do what we do.”
Executives need to realize that goals, metrics, even core values will get tweaked during the first several months, he says. You must also be prepared for potential staff departures. “This is something people choose to be a part of,” he said. The EOS process also “requires you to be really open with who you are and how you are performing and open to colleagues’ opinions,” he said. “That level of openness sometimes scares people.” The very act of choosing a leadership team instrumental in implementation can ruffle feathers if those who thought they should be chosen aren’t.
Is EOS right for your chamber? “You have to be ready for a transformation,” says Rumler. “You have to be ready for not settling for OK results, OK team members and OK members,” he explained. Above all else, once you start, you must be committed to the process.
Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce (Oregon)
When Brittany Quick-Warner took over as CEO of the Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce in fall 2017, it seemed like the office was in chaos. This stemmed in part from the death of her mentor earlier that year, the chamber’s long-time CEO Dave Hauser. Quick-Warner, a five-year employee who had served as interim CEO, felt she was always playing catch-up.
Staff turnover was part of the problem. Without adequate documentation and processes in place to bring on new employees, the chamber seemed to lose six months of productivity every time an employee left, she says. After reading several books about business processes, Quick-Warner attended Jane Clark’s session about EOS at ACCE’s 2018 convention. Afterwards, Clark gave her a copy of Gino Wickman’s book Traction, which Quick-Warner read on the flight home.
Since last fall, the Eugene Area Chamber has been working to implement EOS. It did not have the budget to hire a certified implementer, something other small and medium chambers may grapple with. However, Quick-Warner was already working with an executive coach who agreed to help. EOS also forced her to create a leadership team to facilitate implementation.
This was tricky, she said, since every member of her 10-person staff reported directly to her. In creating the team, she solidified connections with employees. The process also helped her realize that she “did not have a good system in place to get feedback from staff.” Creation of an accountability chart, EOS’ detailed version of an organizational chart, gave her the opportunity to document each person’s role, which has proven helpful during employee transitions.
Although Quick-Warner is a relative newcomer to EOS, she believes it has great potential for her organization. “Chambers have the issue of everyone coming to them to solve a problem,” she noted. “Until we can actually prioritize what we want to accomplish this quarter, it’s harder to say ‘No.’”
EOS implementation also helped her staff become more comfortable setting revenue goals, something that may seem counterintuitive to nonprofits. Now she can see that, “If we want to serve in X capacity, we need X people and X revenue,” she says. “That creates a clear picture for the staff and the board of what it will take.”
For Quick-Warner, EOS goes far beyond a typical strategic plan. The Eugene Chamber’s strategic plan was created by the board with staff input. However, there were no metrics attached, which frustrated employees. “Often strategic plans are so big and vague that anything you do could fit in,” she says. “We needed clarity and focus”—something the EOS model provides.
Chambers and EOS
Jane Clark, president of the Michigan West Coast Chamber of Commerce, spoke at ACCE’s annual convention in Des Moines about her chamber’s EOS journey. ACCE members can access an audio recording and slides. Clark has also begun best practices conference calls with other chamber CEOs who are implementing EOS and plans to hold a user’s group meeting at the convention in Long Beach this summer. Contact Clark via email, [email protected], or by calling (616) 392-2389.
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