According to Accenture, a playbook includes “process workflows, standard operating procedures, and cultural values that shape a consistent response—the play. A playbook reflects a plan; an approach or strategy defining predetermined responses worked out ahead of time.”
With a business playbook, your team stays aligned, your people accountable, and your organization can scale successfully.
But that all starts with having all your top plays documented in one place (AKA building your business playbook)! That way, anyone on your team can play any position.
The best teams not only rehearse how to work together but learn how to adapt together. An effective combination of training and tools to reinforce and support the training leads to better outcomes.
Playbooks are a powerful tool to help business teams not only to act as one but also to adapt as one. Below are some business playbooks we have built from our plays.
HOW TO BUILD YOUR OWN PLAYBOOK
- Discover the Most Leveraged Process That Requires Coordination of Roles and the Ability to Learn and Adapt
- This type of process is a “game-changer.” Game-changer processes make or break a team’s ability to succeed together.
- Document the Plays and Game Plans That Result in the Ideal Outcomes
- Study your wins and your losses. What did you do that led to the desired outcomes? When the team didn’t perform well, what broke down? Find the plays that led consistently to positive outcomes, and document them.
- Design a Set of Teachable Plays and Game Plans
- Which of those winning plays can you scale? Which can be taught most easily to the entire team, not just your stars, but also the group as a whole? Which, even if they aren’t flashy, can be executed well, consistently?
- Deploy to the Team
- Teach the plays, rehearse them regularly, apply them in the field and debrief on the outcomes. If they worked well, use them again; if they didn’t, find out why. Are there new factors in the system you need to consider, or do you just need to keep practicing?
- Develop Constantly
- Build feedback loops that help you see what’s working; what’s not; and how to continue to develop the playbook by learning, adapting and iterating constantly as situations change and new challenges arise.
