The First 90 Days

I have known for years that it is much easier to tell people what to do than to execute the tasks and plans to achieve the results. As I come up on the 90-day window with Summit Hosting I can look back and reflect on the plan, the actions and status.

As a good consultant and executive, I knew that before I act, I should listen, research and plan. After 20+ years focused on I-Business Network, where I set the culture and agenda, moving to a larger company that works virtually would be a change.  Summit is a Results Only Work Environment (ROWE), so I went online and bought two books to study the concepts of ROWE and transition! Both books are ideal for finding those applicable pearls of wisdom.

Management of a remote work force was a challenge for I-BN when we had people in other states and working with contractors.  The ROWE concepts are ideally suited for the virtual office because the focus is on the work and not the place or time.  The accountability of visibility, management by walking around and the structure of physical space can provide advantages in some situations, but in a cloud-based workspace those advantages vanish along with the waste caused by what is described as the "sludge" of a traditional environment. What difference does it make when or where the work is done, if the work gets completed on time. 

The other key ROWE concept I learned from a transition perspective, is that the work is still the work! Just because place and time may have shifted, the tasks don’t.  When you develop a marketing campaign, draft a customer contract, or build a server, the steps do not change. Collaboration tools like Teams, Slack can bridge the physical space and be used for impromptu chats and meetings to replace the “walk by's” and “water cooler” moments.

The First 90 Days by Michael Watkins is also a good guide for a leader, manager, or worker to gain an understanding of transition. Chock full of questionnaires, self-assessment tools and checklists; the book helps you reflect on how to adapt to the new situation and maximize your effectiveness. 

• Today’s virtual environment does not change the human aspects of transition, but it is harder to read body language when the cameras are not always on.  
• You need to get up to speed as quickly as possible, but HR is often outsourced, and in my case, ROWE is a very self-reliant management approach.

Onboarding has changed, especially in a virtual environment. Although a buddy can be assigned to help the newbie get oriented, they will not walk you around the office. The concept of a 90-day plan is still comprised of three phases:

1. Orient
2. Adapt
3. Execute

The reality of the 90 day plan varies by company, and rarely meets the expectations of those who planned it or the person going through “onboarding”. A recent SAP article described 90 day plans as follows:

“Some 30-60-90 day plans were ambitious. Others were fanciful. But every single one assumed a level of clarity and omniscience that is just plain unrealistic, given the dynamic nature of business we find ourselves in today.”

Do not count on others to onboard you! In a ROWE environment you are a corporation of one, contracted by your employer to accomplish a goal.  Think of your onboarding experience as a new engagement and the goal is to satisfy the customer by the end of 90 days.

1.      Orient - It is important to read the landscape of the new customer and map out the key players, their work and communication styles and the key metrics which you will be judged by.

2.      Adapt – What worked for you in the past may not work in all situations. If everything was perfect where you were, you would not have changed situations.  Based upon your orientation it is now your job to figure out how your skills and unique talents will mesh into the new environment and adjust to meet those expectations.

3.      Execute – Rome was not built in a day and you will not move a small company let alone a division or a large one in 90 days.  Find the “low hanging fruit” where you can get some key early wins in context of the expectations of your contract.

Some key concepts to focus on:

• Although what you know and have experienced before may be valuable, do not spout it as gospel or fact until you have oriented and adapted that information to your current circumstance. We have two ears and one mouth so we can listen twice as much as we speak. Listen to the people inside your new company as well as the voice of the customer.
• Maintain a positive mental attitude through what should be anticipated frustration and tension with change. Don’t expect your new boss or company to change or come in with preconceived ideas on how to fix things. If you see problems, turn them into challenges with potential solutions to be adjusted by the new team you work with.
• Think about the purpose of your conversations with others before engaging. Whether you use the “Five conversations” (Situational diagnosis, expectations, resources, style and personal development” model from The First 90 Days or The Four Conversations (initiative, understanding, performance or closure) by Jeffry Ford and Laurie Ford, your meetings should have a purpose and your conversations should be structured to achieve the goal.

For example; if you are meeting your direct supervisor or executive officer to determine expectations you are having the “What-When-Why conversation. Your goal is to get this information from your boss if it is not clearly laid out in your employment offer or job description. This understanding will help you plan the execute process of your first 90 (or 120) days in a tangible way.

Summit and I-BN Cloud Services merged to scale the success of Summit in the “commercial” cloud with the channel experience needed in the mid-sized enterprise market where business management software is implemented through partners. Although my experience ranges back to the earliest days before the cloud was monikered, I-BN did not scale as well as Summit or adapt as well to the threats from cyber criminals. Our future success is predicated upon leveraging the best from each organization:

• Adapting the Summit environment to the more sophisticated SAP Business One software
• Applying the security, automation and scalability in place at Summit from the QuickBooks and Sage markets to SAP.
• Merging the secure workspace and desktop as a service expertise to deliver next level services to our customers.   

During my extended orientation period, I listened to the channel and heard loud and clear that the customer wants a “server-less environment.” With 90 days under my belt, I am confident that I can adapt and that Summit can execute with products like the Secure Workspace to meet customer expectations. 

Although I started with the thought of reflecting back on the first 90 days, I find myself looking forward to the new adventure with the knowledge that success is predicated on adapting to the new environment.