Video Guide:
Everything you need to know to create, track, and manage Rocks with Strety
How to Create a Rock
Create a new Rock from Quick Create or your team's Rock page
Give your Rock a Name, Date Range/Due Date, Description, select which Team Space it will appear on, assign an Owner, and select Status & Progress type
NOTE: You cannot change the Status & Progress type after the Rock has been created
Once created, click into the Rock to share with other Team Spaces; this will allow the Rock to be viewed as part of those team's L10's and Rock pages. We also default the Rock to be shared with the owner's 1x1 Space
Rocks assigned to multiple teams are visible to all members of each team that it's assigned to. However, the owner does not need to be a member of each team the Rock is assigned. Typically multi-team Rocks feed up-the-chain
Rock Definitions & Permissions
There are toggles to denote whether you want to make a Rock Personal or Company:
Personal Rocks: These are Rocks that can only be viewed by the owner and their manager, essentially a private rock. Often times these are tracked & discussed as part of 1x1 meetings, but they can be any goals that require restricted visibility
Company Rocks: These can be viewed by anyone in the organization from the Company Rocks tab along with their status & check-in history. Often these are owned by leadership team members and represent the highest priority goals or targets for your org
There are also (3) Status & Progress options, these are determined by a combination of what you're tracking and how you check-in
Status Only (EOS Style Rock): This style gives owners the check-in options of On Track or Off Track, providing them to self-assess how they are tracking towards the overall goal
Status & Progress for Numerical Value: This style allows owners to set a starting value, an ending value, and type (number, currency, or percentage), and requires them to add a numerical component along with their On Track/Off Track assessment. Use these for tracking quantifiable goals (i.e $30,000 Net New MRR this Quarter or Create 20 SOPs)
Progress Measured from Integration: This style allows owners to link the Rock to a Microsoft Planner Plan or a Connectwise Project. We'll auto ate the check-in of this style of Rock based on the progress/completeness of the project in the linked platform
For more on this type of Rock, check out this video
Company vs Team vs Personal Rocks
For a detailed breakdown on the differences between and best practices around Company, Team, and Personal rocks, check out this help doc
Add an Existing Rock (from another Team)
Rocks can sometimes impact multiple teams in your org. If there is a Rock that already exists on another Team and you'd like it to appear on another Team's page, you can add it using the Add Existing Rock option
Select the Team the Rock currently is on then select the Rock name from the Item dropdown.
Note: You will only be able to add Rocks that you have access to via your role/team membership permissions
Once added, the Rock, it's check-in history, and current status will be viewable by everyone on the team is was added to. We also make it clear which Team the Rock is owned by
Adding an existing Rock from another Team does not grant that Rock Owner permission to see any data on the new Team unless they are already a member of that team or an Admin
How to Check-in Rocks
Check-ins are your way of updating the recent progress made for your Rocks. Check-ins should be done weekly and ahead of your L10 or 1x1 so everyone is informed of its current status
You can check-in a Rock from two places:
Any team's Rock page
Your Personal Overview page. We recommend checking-in from here as we aggregate all of your team & personal Rocks into one table, making it quick & easy to check-in for the week
To check-in a Rock click the Status field and update your Status:
On Track - Current pace trending towards hitting target
Off Track - Current pace trending towards missing target
Completed - When you've fully completed the target
Missed - If you failed to accomplish your target by due date
Value - For Status & Progress Rocks only, your progress against End Value
Backlog - For Rocks or potential future Rocks you aren't ready to actively track
Add context: Proactive context is extremely important, especially if it appears you may be off track at surface level. Adding context can help get out ahead of any questions and reduce time spent getting everyone to to speed during meetings
To see the historical record of all previous check-ins, click into the Rock itself:
How to Add Milestones to Rocks
Milestones allow you to break down a Rock into smaller, more actionable segments.
Effectively using milestones creates an extra layer of accountability for your highest priorities and helps everyone involved quickly and transparently determine whether you're on track or off track towards hitting your target.
To add a milestone, click into the Rock then Add Milestone. Give it a name, due date, and assignee. You can click inline to add a description
How to Archive Rocks
Once the due date arrives and you no longer want the Rock to appear in your L10s or on your personal page, it's time to archive it. Click on the 3-dot menu and select Archive
Archived Rocks are still accessible by clicking the Archived checkbox in any team's Rock page:
Rocks Best Practices
Rocks are typically aligned to quarterly or 90-day priorities, but they can span span any time period that reflects how much time you realistically expect it to take in order to achieve.
What happens if you miss your target
Once a Rock's time period due date arrives, assess where you are. Hopefully your target has been achieved and you can mark it as completed and send it to the archive.
In the unfortunate event that you miss your target, don't simply extend the due date until you complete it - that robs you of a learning opportunity - acknowledge the target was missed, analyze and asses why, and decide what's left to achieve your goal. Options typically include:
Create a new Rock to continue tackling next quarter
Create a series of To-Dos to accomplish whatever outstanding tasks remain
Nothing - maybe priorities have shifted and you need to focus your efforts on the newest set of org/team determined goals
Creating an Issue from a Rock
Rocks can get off track for a variety of reasons, that's normal. However, too often owners of Rocks may be reluctant to voice any problems they're running into out of concern for how it might reflect on them or their perceived performance; that's also a normal sentiment.
We subscribe to the EOS philosophy that surfacing issues - not suppressing them - is in everyone, including the organization's best interest. You may not know the right next steps - and that's okay - so open it up for discussion and lean on your team to help you navigate a path forward.
If you find your Rock off track for too many weeks, create an issue from rock so it can be discussed more openly at the team/org level or in your next L10.
When you create an Issue from a Rock, we'll preserve the linkage between the newly create Issue and the origin Rock so everyone has that context when it's time to discuss potential resolutions or next steps. You can even add additional context to the Issue before sending to the team:
Once created, it will appear on your team's Issue list until it is either resolved, moved to long term, or sent to another team for further collaboration
