The Entrepreneurial Operating System has been steadily gaining popularity as a framework for business leaders. It has helped thousands of businesses gain control and move forward.
One of the key components of EOS is traction, achieved by setting ‘Rocks’ and reviewing them periodically. In this blog post, we explore the details of setting, tracking, and achieving EOS Rocks.
How to Write EOS SMART Rocks [With Examples]
Summarize this article for me pleaseBasics of S.M.A.R.T. Rocks
A Rock is a term used in the Entrepreneurial Operating System [EOS] to describe a significant priority or goal a business needs to accomplish within a specific timeframe, usually a quarter.
In EOS, great Rocks are:
- Significant goals that take time to accomplish [not just a simple task]
- Limited to 3-7 in number to focus on the most critical objectives
- Scheduled to be achieved in 90 days, or a quarter
- Reviewed in weekly meetings to maintain momentum
What is the structure of a Rock?
Rocks in EOS draw from the SMART goals framework, which means their structure should be:
- Specific: Clearly defined and focused
- Measurable: Quantifiable and able to track progress
- Achievable: Realistic and attainable
- Relevant: Aligned with overall objectives and priorities
- Time-bound: Set within a defined period
The concept of Rock lies in the ability to help organizations focus on what truly matters. It enables teams to prioritize their efforts on high-impact tasks, avoiding distractions.
Why Rocks?
Derived from Stephen Covey’s big rock theory, Rocks in EOS refers to goals of various sizes that need to come together to fill the proverbial jar. You begin by putting the big rocks first, the smaller ones later, and so on.
In this framework, organizational goals inform department goals, which are broken down into individual goals. Let’s look at them in context.
Summarize this article for me pleaseDifferent Types of Rocks in a Business Context
Similar to the objectives and key results [OKR] or the balanced scorecard, EOS Rocks also follow a layered approach, which includes three levels of Rocks: Organizational, departmental, and individual.
Organizational Rocks
Organizational Rocks are the highest-priority goals that the entire organization must focus on to achieve its strategic objectives. They are set by the leadership teams and require coordinated efforts across various departments.
E.g.: Achieve $1 million in revenue by the end of Q4. This involves coordinated efforts from product, marketing, sales, and customer success.
Departmental Rocks
Departmental rocks are goals set for specific departments within the organization. These Rocks, which can sometimes be goals for managers, ensure that each department contributes to the overarching organizational objectives while improving its internal processes.
Examples of departmental Rocks corresponding to the above organizational Rock might be:
- Generate 200 leads
- Increase conversion rate to 20% from lead to sale
Individual Rocks
Individual Rocks are professional goals for work assigned to an individual team member. These objectives roll up to departmental Rocks and, eventually, company Rocks.
For example,
- Each salesperson to increase individual sales quota by 30%
- Social media marketing to increase awareness and top-of-the-funnel visibility by 50%
- SDRs to improve conversion rates by 10%
With that, let’s see how you can put SMART EOS Rocks into action.
Summarize this article for me pleaseMaking SMART Rocks: The Step-by-Step Process
As you can see, SMART Rocks combine two concepts: Rocks from the EOS framework and the SMART goals framework. This means that you have to keep the philosophies of both in mind as you set Rocks for your teams. Let’s see how.
1. Identify your priorities
As the first step, determine the most critical achievements or goals that will impact the organization most. This step requires a clear understanding of the company’s vision, current challenges and opportunities.
For example, if you’re a new business, your top most priority might be acquiring your first 100 customers. If you’re in a competitive space, retention might be important. If you are at the scaling stage, you might have time management goals.
Based on your research and discussions, identify your top priorities. For inspiration, see these goal examples for 1/5/10 years.
2. Determine your big Rocks
For each of your priorities, articulate what business success looks like. This step helps you set goals in a clear direction and understand the desired outcomes.
For instance, if retention is a priority, your big rocks might be:
- Improving NPS and customer satisfaction scores
- Improving outcomes of referral programs
- Strengthening influencer marketing results
3. Crystallize the SMART Rocks
This is where you write down each of your Rocks in the SMART framework. If one of your departmental priority is retention, your SMART Rock would be as follows.
Improve NPS score [specific] to more than 60% promoters [measurable] from the current 40% [achievable] by Q4 [time-bound]. This metric directly relates to the department’s goal of retention, making it relevant.
If you’re new to this, use one of the many goal-setting templates to ensure you get this right. Don’t be troubled by the choice. Try the ClickUp SMART Goal Action Plan template.
4. Communicate with your teams
Get team alignment by discussing all the Rocks with them. Discuss how each team member’s role contributes to achieving the overall goals.
Assign individual Rocks to the corresponding team member and encourage them to take ownership. This step ensures accountability and clarifies who is in charge of driving the initiative forward.
5. Review and adapt
A critical part of the SMART Rocks process is to review progress during the weekly meetings. Meeting pulses—i.e., 90-minute weekly conversations moderated with the Level 10 meeting agenda—are a great way to do this consistently and effectively.
Let’s review this with some examples.
Summarize this article for me pleaseEOS SMART Rocks Examples
1. Lead generation
EOS SMART Rock: Increase lead generation through LinkedIn by 25% in Q4
- Specific: Lead generation through LinkedIn
- Measurable: 25%
- Achievable: Based on the growth from previous quarter and budget allocation, this Rock can be set to be achievable
- Relevant: If the organizational Rock is growth or market reach, this is a relevant goal
- Time-bound: in Q4, which gives a 90-day period
To achieve this Rock, the marketing team might tweak their activities across new campaigns, content assets, advertising copy, etc.
2. Software engineering
EOS SMART Rock: Implement automated testing for 90% of the codebase by Q2
- Specific: Implement automated testing
- Measurable: 90%
- Achievable: Based on existing tools and frameworks
- Relevant: If the organizational Rock is improving developer productivity or engineering efficiency
- Time-bound: in Q2, which gives a 90-day period
Based on this Rock, the software team will identify automation tools, integrate them, test them, and train the team on maintaining these tests.
3. Sales
EOS SMART Rock: Achieve 20% revenue growth by year-end
- Specific: Revenue growth
- Measurable: 20%
- Achievable: Based on the growth from previous quarter and budget allocation, this Rock can be set to be achievable
- Relevant: If the organizational Rock is growth or market reach, this is a relevant goal
- Time-bound: By year-end, gives the ability to break down the Rock into monthly and quarterly goals
To achieve this Rock, the company might design activities for lead generation, product-led conversions, retention, and advocacy.
4. Project management
EOS SMART Rock: Complete 95% of projects on time and on budget in Q1
- Specific: Complete projects on time and on budget
- Measurable: 95% of projects
- Achievable: Based on current performance with improved planning and resource management)
- Relevant: If the organizational Rock is growth or cost-control, this Rock helps improve efficiency
- Time-bound: By the end of Q1
For this Rock, the project management team might implement better tracking tools, conduct regular progress reviews, set communication goals, and optimize resource allocation.
However carefully you set your Rocks, you will face challenges. Let’s discuss a few scenarios that might occur, and you can address them.
Summarize this article for me pleaseWhy SMART Rocks Fail and How to Overcome Failure
Every framework is only as good as your implementation of it. You might set the smartest goals, but if you don’t implement them well, and embrace it as a team, you will be setting yourself up for failure. Here’s how to avoid that.
Setting too many Rocks
It can be tempting to set a dozen Rocks for each individual, wanting to achieve everything. In practice, this is a grave mistake.
The foundation of EOS Rocks is to choose 3-7 objectives that can be prioritized over the next 90 days. So, keep your goals limited and achievable.
Not being clear or specific
When goals are vague or poorly defined, team members may not fully understand the expectations, leading to confusion and lack of focus. For instance, if your goal is “improve social media engagement by 10%,” your team might be confused about what that means.
So, be specific and define what ‘social media engagement’ means. Discuss these definitions with your team and ensure they understand.
Not making them visible
“Set it and forget it” is a terrible way to manage SMART Rocks. Publish them in a place that’s accessible to everyone on the team. You can use ClickUp Docs to write them down. Or ClickUp Goals to set targets directly.
If you’re new to digital project management, the ClickUp SMART goals template can get you started. Use it to guide you to set and track Rocks that are important to you.
Bonus: Check out the 10 SMART goal templates to help achieve your goals.
Not connecting Rocks to actions
Often, the leadership team sets the right goals but doesn’t connect them to everyday tasks. As a result, team members continue to go about their days without making the necessary changes to achieve their goals.
Avoid this pitfall with ClickUp tasks. Create tasks with detailed instructions, deadlines, and success criteria. You can also set priorities for tasks, create custom statuses and custom fields.
You don’t need to start on a clean slate. Try the ClickUp SMART Action Plan template. With this beginner-friendly template,
- Set realistic quarterly Rocks that align with your organization’s priorities
- Map out the tasks and resources needed to complete each objective
- Prioritize activities so that your team stays focused on what matters most
Not tracking them right
In the EOS framework, SMART Rocks need to be reviewed and discussed each week. This way, if a Rock fails, you can address it in time and recalibrate your journey.
ClickUp views offer 15+ fully customizable views for project tracking. Based on your needs, you can choose from list view, calendar view, chat view, and more. For instance, if you want to see dependencies, try the Gantt chart view. If you’re worried about resource allocation, try the Workload view.
Above all, managing your entire business goals based on an Entrepreneurial Operating System can be tedious. But don’t worry—we got you. ClickUp’s EOS template by Zenpilot can be your one-stop solution for managing your EOS business goals.
It not only cuts down your software spending but also saves a lot of time, which you can use to achieve your goals faster.
Summarize this article for me pleaseRock Your EOS With ClickUp
If you’re using the Entrepreneur Operating System for your business, you’ve made a great start. The effectiveness of your choice depends on the framework’s sixth component: Traction.
Designed to build discipline and accountability, tracking stresses the need for setting SMART Rocks that teams work towards. This structured approach enhances efficiency, optimizes resource allocation, and improves outcomes.
However, managing organizational, departmental, and individual Rocks manually can soon get tedious. You need robust entrepreneurial operating system software that focuses on goal management.
ClickUp’s project management tool is precisely that. It supports your EOS practice, guiding you towards setting and implementing SMART Rocks. What’s more? Monitor, track and manage your EOS journey end-to-end. Try ClickUp today for free!
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