I have only gotten one speeding ticket during my entire driving career. It was back in my 20s, I was driving 40 in a 30 mile zone and I was listening to the song Love Shack, by the B52s. I remember this vividly, because I was blasting the music, singing along with the radio and ultimately driving faster and faster. The rhythm of the music led to increased speed. Then, I saw the flashing lights…

Just as the rhythm of music increased my driving speed, creating a rhythm or cadence in how you lead your sales, service or operations teams can increase business productivity. And, creating a consistent rhythm, can also help build confidence in the leadership team.

A Destination Before Charting Your Course

A precursor or requirement, before you formally implement a department rhythm, is to set clear department goals and metrics of measurement. The focus of your ongoing activities (the drum beat) will be to support the achievement of those goals.

The Activities That Build Rhythm

The rhythm or cadence of your business can take on many forms, and here are a few examples:

• Meetings, when scheduled, prepared and facilitated properly AND when they contain valuable content and discussion, can be very effective in building your department rhythm. When possible, schedule meetings on the same week days, same times with a similar format so attendees grow to know what to expect.

For more on meetings that drive results, check out Tom Richard’s article, “Sales Meetings – Let Your Staff Do the Work and Get the Results You Want!,” Tom shares some specific tips on how you can use meetings to support your business plan and hold everyone accountable for producing results. My favorite quote in his article is, “Making money is not random”.

• Reports, published on the same time, day each week- in the same format, with consistently accurate data, can contribute to your department rhythm.

• Sales forecasting tasks are perfect candidates for “rhythmic” activities. Most sales organizations have to deliver sales forecasts to upper management on a certain day and time, each week. Work backwards and create forecasting deadlines for each layer of your sales staff.

For example, require front line Sales Reps to submit individual forecasts to managers by Wednesdays, Sales Managers to submit forecasts to Sales Directors by Thursday, and give the Sales VP Friday to finalize the forecast and submit it to the CEO by Monday. Over time, this consistent rhythm should lead to more accurate and timely sales forecasts.

• MBWA: Managing by walking around or simply being present on a consistent basis can contribute to department rhythm. Employees like to know that the leadership team is engaged- and there is no substitute for face to face. Schedule consistent days and times to be seen, heard and interact.

• Anyone who has been involved in a Six Sigma/Lean initiative, knows that the physical design of the work environment can help or hinder department rhythm. Do your employees have to walk long distances to pick up paper from the printer or attend meetings? Do employees who work together also sit near each other? Are employees frustrated with obsolete, equipment and slow server response times?

Many of these controllable environmental factors can block flow and rhythm. Small changes and investments could lead to major bursts of productivity.

• Although not conclusive, some scientists believe that music increases personal productivity (not just driving speed.) Personally, I find that upbeat music makes me more productive, improvisational jazz makes me want to run screaming, and that complete silence, the kind you often get from working remotely, can boost my concentration. What are the sounds that surround your team? Do they help or hinder your department rhythm? For more on this topic, check out Kimberly Sena Moore’s recent blog, “5 Tips For Using Music To Boost Productivity”.

• There have been many articles written about the importance of creating consistency (experiences, messages) when serving our customers. In her recent article, “Focusing on Customer Service Consistency”, Adele Summers wrote, “When we aim for consistency in our communications, values, messages, images, offerings, and the customer experiences we create, we take another significant step toward developing long-lasting and meaningful customer relationships that will boost our bottom line.”

This is also applicable to how we lead. When we create a consistent department rhythm, using consistent messaging, reporting and meetings. When employees know what to expect from their leadership team members, we take steps to building a work environment that will drive productivity and boost our bottom line.

What do you do to build rhythm and cadence in your organization? Please add comments.

1. Sales Spiffs & Contests.. NOT a lever to drive significant and “true” lifts in sales productivity