Rhythms for Organizations

Rhythms: The most important thing about your organization –

you may not understand.

By: Ken Sutterfield, Senior Consultant / Hueston Consulting Group / ken.sutterfield@gmail.com

Organizational rhythms have a fundamental effect on the success of an individual and an organization. Rhythm is not something you decide or is defined by any one person in your organization. It is defined by external and internal synergies we share space with.

We don’t often think about it, but life is based on natural, recurring rhythms: Days, years and even our own lives have predictable cycles that allow us to navigate through time. Our morning activities differ from our evening ones; we plan vacations around the seasons; and we focus our energy according to the stages of our careers. Without these cadences the music of life would be chaotic, and it would be hard to build a common social experience with other people.

The turning of the calendar is a reminder that organizations also need rhythm. Some of it derives naturally from the sun and the moon, financial reporting requirements, and the specific nature of your organization. But leaders need to provide the rest of the music to give donors, employees, and constituents a sense of consistency. From my experience, there are at least three types of cadence  that leaders need to create:

Planning and Budgeting: First, leaders need to make sure that an effective planning and budgeting cycle is in place at an organization level. This is the cadence that forces people to set strategies and goals and translate them into plans. Gauging the right timing for this cycle and how much detail it requires is almost always a challenge, and many organizations stumble trying to get it right (or perfect).

Reporting and Pivoting: People at all levels value rhythms for assessing progress and making improvements to achieve their goals. But this rhythm often breaks down due to lack of discipline, transparency, or the avoidance of tough discussions when things get off track. In fact, a common reason that companies struggle with execution is that the “reporting and pivoting” cadence includes too much improvisation, which means that problems are addressed too late or not at all.

Human Resource Staffing and Development: At an organization-wide level, this means identifying needed skills and resources, closing gaps between current and future needs, moving people to appropriate roles, and rewarding or recognizing people for success. Within various areas, this rhythm also includes periodic recalibration of unit structures, disciplined performance feedback, mentoring, coaching, and training. Again, while many organizations have yearly cycles for these activities, they are toooften viewed as one-time reporting exercises rather than part of an ongoing rhythm. However, many squeeze them into the calendar as ad-hoc tasks when a problem arises.

Look for rhythms in behavior of your constituencies, Look for unexpected spikes or interest in a certain area. Be curious and allow yourself to think creatively.

The best way to approach and understand your organizational rhythms is to create a “master calendar” for yourself and your team.

 Mark (or estimate) all of the key dates and requirements that are part of the corporate process. Then put in the recurring notes that you require for your own rhythm: one-on-ones with direct reports, skip-level meetings, project reviews, mentoring sessions, team off sites, etc. Once you begin to see how it all fits together, you can make adjustments, do advance planning, and communicate frequently and specifically with your people.

Embrace your natural rhythms and stop swimming up stream and go with the flow.