Should Your Company Self-implement EOS®?

You’ve read Traction, and your leadership team is excited about  jumping onboard with the Entrepreneurial Operating System^®. Congrats! It’s a big step for a company to take—and finding the right Certified EOS Implementer is a big part of that. Unless, of course, you’re going to implement EOS yourself.

But should your company self-implement? An Implementer isn’t cheap, and you would be trusting your business to someone you don’t know. On the other hand, is anyone on your team up to the task of implementing EOS at your company?

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Good reasons to self-implement, good reasons not to

Marisa Smith gets it. Her marketing agency self-implemented EOS for two years before hiring a Certified Implementer. In 2016 she pivoted her career and became a Certified Implementer, herself. So Marisa has seen EOS from every angle, and she understands all of the pros and cons of self-implementing EOS.

“We didn’t really know there was such a thing as a Professional or Certified EOS Implementer back then. This was in the earlier days of EOS, so it wasn’t as well-known,” Marisa said. “That said, we were small and didn’t have the budget to hire an Implementer, yet.”

Marisa’s story is like many small companies.

“I also think there’s the factor of the entrepreneurial spirit at play. We think we can figure anything out—that’s our superpower as well as our kryptonite,” she said. “So why hire someone when we can just do it ourselves? That’s how entrepreneurs are wired. And EOS seems simple, so we think we can do it without assistance.”

But eventually, the company grows enough that it doesn’t make sense for the Visionary or the Integrator to both participate and facilitate. At that point, it may be time to revisit the question of hiring an Implementer.

Once they hired an Implementer, Marisa realized another benefit: objective facilitating. “I didn’t grasp how many problems I had been contributing to, so I wasn’t capable of seeing them and fixing them,” Marisa said. “Even though I was a good technical Implementer, getting down to the root of an Issue was difficult until we got someone else in there to hold us accountable. We could have gotten farther, faster, if we’d had an Implementer in the room from the start.”

But if you have fewer than 10 people at your company, she acknowledges that it might be harder to hire an Implementer right out of the gate.

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Should YOU hire an Implementer?

Does it make sense for your company to hire an Implementer now? Should you wait and hire farther down the road? Or can you run on EOS entirely on your own? In general, Marisa recommends hiring an Implementer if you have the budget for it. While you’ll certainly benefit by simply using the EOS Foundational Tools, she says you’ll get a lot more benefit if you go all-in with EOS and hire an Implementer.

“I always recommend to do an introductory 90-Minute Meeting with an Implementer, no matter what,” she said. “Even if you think you’re going to self-implement, it’s always best to hear from a Professional Implementer what it looks like to run purely on the system. Then, at least you’ve got a picture of the destination, and you can decide whether or not you can get there on your own.”

And at the very least, you’ve made a connection with someone who can serve as a resource along your journey.

If you’re going to self-implement, Marisa recommends making sure that somebody on your team will fill the role of Implementer. You’ll need somebody who has the time and skills to sit in that seat. “That means joining Base Camp and studying the material to do it right,” she said.

To request a 90-Minute Meeting, start by asking EOS Worldwide to match you with a  Professional or Certified EOS Implementer in your area, or visit the EOS Directory of Implementers to find one that might be a good fit.

Hit the ground running

But whether you hire an Implementer now, later or not at all, Traction Tools can help you get up and running on EOS fast. Marisa has used it with clients, and she agrees. “I think Traction Tools accelerates people getting their Level 10 Meetings running more efficiently, and it accelerates setting up the Accountability Chart purely—just using all of the EOS Foundational Tools as they were intended.”

Traction Tools makes it easier to run on EOS purely, and harder to do it incorrectly. The software is designed to keep you from straying off the EOS map, even while providing handy personalizations for your company and team.

And if you’re working with an Implementer, it’s easy to export and print the tools, and have everything you need at your next Session.

“I have a number of clients that are currently using Traction Tools,” Marisa said, “and they have commented on how easy it is to run the Level 10 Meeting. It helps them stay organized. And they discover other great features as they use the software more.”

Whether you hire a Certified EOS Implementer or self-implement, there’s one sure way to get up and running with EOS fast. Traction Tools helps seasoned Implementers and newbies alike boost their productivity and cut out the distractions that get in the way of running on EOS.Find out what Traction Tools software for EOS can do for your company—get an on-demand demo today!