Mastering Cycle Time

In my years of experience, I've come to realize that cycle time governs not just the speed of execution but also the satisfaction of a team. It's the heartbeat of organizational efficiency, and mastering it can transform your company's performance.

I've seen it time and again: as companies grow, they build processes to keep different parts aligned. But these processes often break down at scale, becoming slower and more cumbersome. This shift pushes teams from being proactive to reactive, undermining their ability to build conviction in decisions and threatening overall cohesion.

So, how can you improve cycle time?

I've found that cycle time is primarily a function of vertical leaps in discussions and the number of people involved at each level. The most impactful change is to push decision-making down. We're not aiming for a true "bottoms up" culture, but rather one of strong local leadership. This reduces vertical leaps and accelerates decision-making.

Senior individual contributors should own more decision-making. More senior managers should lead smaller teams. I believe performance management should focus on "return on investment" rather than "absolute impact." This approach minimizes the slowdown caused by management overhead.

When vertical leaps are necessary, I've seen great success in escalating early and often. Assigning a Single Threaded Owner for critical areas - someone 100% focused on the task - can significantly reduce latency in escalations.

I applaud the instinct towards inclusion, but I've learned that if every discipline is in every meeting, execution suffers. We need representation, not direct inclusion of everyone. I've found that leveraging roles like product managers to represent multiple perspectives can be highly effective.

To avoid repeating cycles, I've found it's crucial to make decisions more durable. In my experience, basing decisions on demos and prototypes rather than docs and decks leads to more concrete and lasting choices.

I've observed that most companies suffer from excessive parallelization and insufficient prioritization. Doing less, but with better focus, can dramatically improve cycle time.

Identifying critical stakeholders early and keeping them informed is vital. I've seen too many projects derailed by late-stage input, so sequencing involvement is crucial.

While good processes accelerate progress, I've learned they need regular updates. Be vigilant about retiring or updating processes as your organization evolves. In my experience, the cost of a bad process far outweighs the benefit of a good one.

Focusing on strategies for improving cycle time isn't just about speed - it's about transforming your team from reactive to proactive, from hesitant to confident. I've seen firsthand how mastering cycle time can boost team satisfaction, enhance decision quality, and drive organizational agility.

Remember, the goal isn't to work harder, but smarter. Start implementing these changes, and you'll see your team's effectiveness and satisfaction soar. In today's fast-paced business world, mastering cycle time isn't just an advantage - it's a necessity for success.