What the heck is a business battle rhythm?

Guest post by David Friedman

A battle rhythm is the heart of military operational management. It requires efficiently processing inputs and intent to enable the commander to make decisive decisions.

In business, a battle rhythm uses information and decision processes to make business decisions.

Business battle rhythms are important because the pace of business today is extremely fast. With the Internet and communications technologies available to most companies, even the smallest competitor can outflank a larger competitor to gain an advantage in the market.

Therefore, knowledge management is less about technology and more about identifying the right information, putting that information in context of the end game, and then collaborating and sharing information with the right people.

One way to look at business battle rhythm is through the scheduling of meetings. Each meeting should have:

• Specific attendees
  
• A specific agenda
  
• A clear purpose
  
• Agreed upon outcomes
  
• A central location to post the results
  
• A list of follow-up action items
  

The following attributes comprise a successful business battle rhythm:

• Speed and sense of urgency because everything today operates at Internet speed. (Remember the concept of fast, fluid and flexible.)
  
• Accountability and responsibility such that a person is accountable for a result and a team is in place to support the one accountable for the final result.
  
• Engagement to ensure that there is collaboration and interplay among the executives relative to the metrics that drive success, and to ensure that there is alignment of all internal resources for the common purpose of winning the battle or war against the company’s common enemy.
  
• Competitiveness that focuses the company’s resources on a common goal of winning against the outside enemy while putting aside internal differences and petty turf wars.
  
• Diversity of thought to get different points of view on a problem. With diversity of thought, data can be viewed from different perspectives. This context will lead to different knowledge based on the perspective, background and history of the different participants in the decision process.
  

Every organization from the largest corporation to a small business should use a well-written, well -developed battle rhythm. It’s not merely a schedule but a plan for a weekly or monthly routine to manage the business. Units within the company can more easily coordinate their activities if they know each other’s battle rhythm.

What are your thought about this concept? Does it make sense or is it too bureaucratic?

Image: Public domain U.S. Navy Photo ID 030317-N-3235)-501 via Wikimedia Commons

David Friedman is Managing Director of C-Level Partners, which primarily helps small- to mid-cap business grow their top line revenue and margin. He is also active in TechCoastAngels. For more information email David at dfriedman@clevelpartners.net or visit www.clevelpartners.net.