Grow Kind: Prioritizing Purposefully

Is your company intentionally and accurately prioritizing the needs of the business? The LeaderLab invites Robyn Long, LifeLabs Learning’s Chief of Staff and Business Operations Strategist, to share one of her favorite calibration tools with our listeners: the Business Priority Score (BPS) system. Robyn and Vanessa discuss how this tool helps companies grow sustainably as they scale by clarifying company-wide goals and taking action on the highest-priority projects first.   

Want to help your organization grow kind? Get in touch with us to find out which learning experiences are right for your team. 

[Music by Blue Dot Sessions]

Transcript

Vanessa Tanicien: (00:05)
Welcome to The LeaderLab, the podcast powered by LifeLabs Learning. I'm your host, LifeLabs leadership trainer, and Director of Product Strategy and Operations, Vanessa Tanicien. Join me and my Labmates as we distill our findings into powerful leadership tipping point skills, the smallest changes that make the biggest impact in the shortest time. We'll also welcome members from our learning community who share how they experiment with these skills in their world of work and beyond.

Vanessa Tanicien: (00:38)
Welcome back, LeaderLab listeners. I am so psyched for Season 3 of The LeaderLab, powered by LifeLabs Learning. This season, we're going to be focused on growing kind. Now you might be asking yourself, what does that even mean? Well, what we're going to be talking about specifically are a range of skills that link up to growing sustainably as your business scales. So systems level down to the manager level, down to the individual level, you'll be hearing all the different things that you need to be successful and thrive in the workplace.

Vanessa Tanicien: (01:11)
So today, to chat with us about one tool that we can all use to grow kind, I am so excited, a near and dear friend of mine, as well as our Chief of Staff, Robyn Long. Robyn has built so many systems that we know and love at LifeLabs, and she's constantly tinkering with the best ways to do things even better. So welcome to the show, Robyn.

Robyn Long: (01:32)
Yay. Thanks Vanessa. It's really courage over comfort to be here, but the chance to flirt with you on air was really exciting.

Vanessa Tanicien: (01:40)
I love that. I will flirt with you all podcast long, I promise. So let's talk about growing kind, and what have you got for us to experiment with today?

Robyn Long: (01:49)
Yeah, so the idea of growing kind, it's exciting for us. It's our theme for this year. And so in the work that I do, I think a lot about our operational efficiencies, and when we have competing departments, priorities, or long term goals, placing all of our priorities along the same spectrum is really helpful for us to have clarity over what we're trying to achieve.

Vanessa Tanicien: (02:12)
Yeah. So how do we put all of our priorities and goals in one single spectrum? Don't keep me in suspense.

Robyn Long: (02:20)
Introducing a tool that we call Business Priority Score, or BPS for short.

Vanessa Tanicien: (02:26)
Oh my gosh. It sounds like it's already trademarked.

Robyn Long: (02:30)
Let's get our lawyer working on that.

Vanessa Tanicien: (02:33)
Brian Mills, where you at? So BPS. Can you break down for me how BPS links up to this idea of growing kind, growing sustainably, and growing in a way that's brain friendly for the people in your workforce?

Robyn Long: (02:47)
Yeah. So BPS, it's a calibration system for projects, where you give your projects a score based on their priority or their value to the business. There's really three steps to it. So the first is, you're going to set your timeframe. For us at LifeLabs, we use quarters, but you can set any project period that you'd like. Then you're going to give each project a score on a scale between one and five. Then the last step is, you're going to calibrate or actually compare those projects against one another so that you can make any necessary adjustments.

Vanessa Tanicien: (03:21)
Got you. So using the good old fashioned linear scale between one and five to truly understand how high priority something is. So how are we looking at these scores specifically?

Robyn Long: (03:32)
So here's what each score means. One is, I feel strongly that we shouldn't put time or resources into this right now. Two is, I don't think this is a priority, but I'm not going to block the progress of it. Three would be, nice to make progress on, four, very important that we make progress on this. Five, must happen, and we should devote all necessary time and resources to getting this thing done.

Vanessa Tanicien: (03:57)
What are some questions that our listeners should take into account for assessing that one through five?

Robyn Long: (04:03)
Yeah. So you can do a little mini gap analysis here where you ask, how far are we from the goal? Or how urgent is it that we make progress on this? And that should really help you hone in. And then don't put too much emphasis on getting the BPS right the first time around. Think like a scientist. You're making a hypothesis.

Vanessa Tanicien: (04:23)
So what you're saying, Robyn, is that it's in the calibration that the magic happens.

Robyn Long: (04:28)
That's exactly right, Vanessa. As a rule of thumb, at LifeLabs, for example, we only allow for 10 fives across the entire organization in a quarter.

Vanessa Tanicien: (04:39)
How many BPS scores are we talking about in aggregate?

Robyn Long: (04:42)
Maybe 40 to 45 projects?

Vanessa Tanicien: (04:45)
Oh my gosh.

Robyn Long: (04:46)
Yeah. That's what you need, right, because we cannot do everything. So what we're trying to do is say, "What's the most important thing to do in this period of time?" And you can even future proof it by working backwards to say, "How bad would it be if we didn't do this right now?"

Vanessa Tanicien: (05:03)
Ooh, yes. That lost opportunity effect. Okay.

Robyn Long: (05:07)
The idea is that it centers around the most important things for you to get done when time and resources are limited, which they always are. Right? So what I always say to people is, "You have to complete your fives. Do most of your fours. You can then dabble with your threes, but never do your ones and twos unless your three, fours, and fives are done."

Vanessa Tanicien: (05:30)
We could probably make a nursery rhyme, a business nursery rhyme out of that. Make sure you do your fours and fives. Don't do the threes or twos. Now you do your ones. I don't know what to do. So basically...

Robyn Long: (05:42)
That's amazing.

Vanessa Tanicien: (05:43)
It just sounds like we're helping people prioritize the priorities because one of the things that we see in training companies around the world is that this is a constant issue, battling priorities. And it sounds like BPS and the calibration of BPS scores across the business is one of the things that allows for people to say the magic word, "No." So that way they can say yes to the right things. Is there any evidence that showcases that prioritization systems like this are helpful?

Robyn Long: (06:12)
Yes. So actually there's a study by a company that found that companies with fewer firm-wide priorities actually report higher revenue growth. So what this is telling us is that number really does matter in terms of performance.

Vanessa Tanicien: (06:27)
If we're not using BPS or, honestly, any other system, what are the impacts on an organization?

Robyn Long: (06:33)
I think you're at risk of misalignment, disengagement. You're at risk of trying to do too much and then possibly failing. I think that leaders think you have to do everything. And we know that that's just not the most effective way to work.

Vanessa Tanicien: (06:48)
Yeah. It basically sounds like a bad time all around.

Robyn Long: (06:52)
Sucks. I'm out.

Vanessa Tanicien: (06:54)
It reminds me of a 2017 Gallup research study that showed that employees who believe that their work aligns, or at least links up to larger organizational goals, are 250% more likely to be engaged. That is bananas.

Robyn Long: (07:09)
That is wild.

Vanessa Tanicien: (07:10)
Right? This idea that people can walk in the door and know that they're working on a BPS five, and that'll give them sort of the motivation and stamina.

Robyn Long: (07:19)
Yeah, and I will say, if you're working on a three, don't sweat it. It's not personal.

Vanessa Tanicien: (07:24)
Yes.

Robyn Long: (07:25)
We definitely have that conversation as well.

Vanessa Tanicien: (07:27)
Robyn, I am so thrilled to have this new tool in my toolkit, but it wouldn't be a true LeaderLab episode if we didn't take this thing for a spin. So would you mind helping me assess some BPS scores?

Robyn Long: (07:41)
Happy to, V. All right. So why don't you tell me about some projects, and then we can figure out the BPS and then calibrate them.

Vanessa Tanicien: (07:49)
Yes. So we're working on a lot of exciting things on the product team at LifeLabs. First one is making sure that our content is accessible for everyone. So we're thinking about imagery, we're thinking about captioning language. And then the second one is continuing education credits for our participants.

Robyn Long: (08:05)
Awesome. So now, using the scale, what would you propose the BPS is for each of the projects?

Vanessa Tanicien: (08:12)
Honestly, I think they're both fives.

Robyn Long: (08:14)
Cool. And that might be the case. It sounds like they are very, very important to make progress on. So now that we have set the BPS, our last step here is to calibrate them against one another. So I want you to think about first, what's your hypothesis around which project will have the biggest impact towards our vision.

Vanessa Tanicien: (08:36)
I love that you're attaching this to vision. It's making me think more broadly. So at LifeLabs, one of our missions is to have a million people, skilled people, by 2025. If I really think about these two, there's a clear winner. Making our content as accessible as possible gets us closer to that goal.

Robyn Long: (08:53)
Great. And how about for the second?

Vanessa Tanicien: (08:55)
I mean, everybody wants continuing education credits. I think it's something that we want to provide as a service to our participants, but it's not exactly as formidable as that first project in comparison, I guess. Yeah.

Robyn Long: (09:07)
Good to know. And then I would also challenge you to think about how important is it that you make progress on the first project right now, in this quarter?

Vanessa Tanicien: (09:17)
Well, I would say that the accessibility project, shout out to TJ, is a big deal. We believe that inclusive leadership is the way of the future, which means that our content needs to be accessible. So that's pretty high up on the list. And I guess the continuing education credits, as awesome as it would be, and we're working on it everybody, can take a seat on that back burner.

Robyn Long: (09:39)
And good for you for saying that. I think it's hard to do sometimes, but that helps us prioritize. So what would the adjusted BPS scores be?

Vanessa Tanicien: (09:49)
Can I give our accessibility work a five and can I give the continuing education credits a 4.5?

Robyn Long: (09:56)
No point fives here, just because it's sort of like waffling in the middle, and we want to cleanly make a decision. What would you say if you had to pick a whole number?

Vanessa Tanicien: (10:06)
Okay. There you go, making me be intentional again. Okay. I would probably say a four in comparison.

Robyn Long: (10:14)
And how does that feel, having a four and a five now?

Vanessa Tanicien: (10:16)
Honestly, I feel really good in this decision making. It feels like I will be able to effectively communicate this to my team. So we are coming to the end of our time together, Robyn. I am literally shedding tears, but I have one last thing that I have to ask you. So Robyn, what should listeners be experimenting with in their laboratories of life?

Robyn Long: (10:37)
Okay. So I dare you to make a list of your own projects that you're working on right now, big or small, and give each of them a BPS score. Then put them in a list and see if you can calibrate them against one another using the questions that we chatted about today.

Vanessa Tanicien: (10:56)
Challenge accepted. Robyn, it was such a pleasure to have you on The LeaderLab.

Robyn Long: (11:01)
Pleasure's mine, Vanessa.

Vanessa Tanicien: (11:12)
And that's a wrap of another episode of The LeaderLab podcast powered by LifeLabs Learning. If you're loving The LeaderLab, subscribe so you never miss an episode. The LeaderLab is executive produced and hosted by me, Vanessa Tanicien. Alana Burman is our Creative Director and Senior Editor. Juliana Jack is our Assistant Editor. Lauren Feller is our Associate Producer, and NeEddra James is our Senior Producer. You can find all our episodes, transcripts, and more at lifelabslearning.com/podcast. While you're there, you can learn more about our learning programs to help you build an engaged, high impact team faster. See you in the lab.