Cascading your cadence

Having just written recently on cadence, I thought I would extend the idea into how cadence actually cascades and how this needs to be allowed for. My rule of thumb is that the ‘working level’ rhythm needs to be double the oversight rhythm.

There is a Dilbert cartoon which has Dilbert needing to write his end of month report in the first week of the month because so many layers of management need to review it before it is finally presented. As ever, Dilbert is exasperated by how ridiculous the situation is that he finds himself in. And as ever, some of us chuckle knowingly because, sadly, we’ve been there and done that ourselves!

The point of my previous article is that you may be able to slow your cadence without any significant loss of traction and information. Another reason to consider slowing the operating rhythm is to allow for the cascading impact to flow through.

For example, I used to have a regular meeting with a client for whom we were doing a lot of critical work to ensure their activity was on track. We had this meeting roughly every six weeks over an extended period of time. The cascade we set-up internally was a meeting immediately before and after each client meeting (to brief and debrief) and then another internal status check at the half way mark between each meeting i.e. the three week point.

This cascade meant that, as a team, we were all clear after the client meeting as to what we had to get done and who was doing it. The action owners then had three weeks to go and make sure it was happening before a spot check to make sure it was all okay. Then before the client meeting, we were able to do another follow-up and ensure we knew what the status was (with no internal surprises) before the meeting with the client.

When I write this, it feels really obvious. But I’m surprised as to how rare it has been across my career to see this put into place systematically. It seems to me that often people are only oriented on the public and visible meeting and don’t do the work to consciously cascade their oversight outside that meeting.

This can apply for any critical meeting or governance and my rough rule of thumb is that the ‘working level’ rhythm needs to be double the oversight rhythm. So, if the oversight is monthly, there should be working group meetings at least fortnightly. If the oversight is weekly, there need to be working group meetings twice a week. You get the idea!

It is important that we set ourselves up for success and designing your governance and oversight well is a critical element of that success.