Dear leaders, when you get a puppy, people (not always experts) suggest there are three milestones.
3 days
3 weeks
3 months
The 3-3-3 milestones are:
- 3 days are based on getting to know you, starting to understand you and the new environment and any rules
- 3 weeks is when they are feeling more comfortable, they start understanding the routine and they start to bed into their new environment and they get to know you
- 3 months is when they know it’s their home, the bond is there and they trust you, and if you’re lucky they’ll come and want to spend much more time with you
Luckily in the first months, we have experienced these and an early onset of adolescence.
Work’s 3-3-3s
I often compare this to the business world.
Especially more recently the onboarding process we have within a new organisation and 3-3-3 applies when you are a consultant and as a leadership coach.
The 3 steps in the onboarding process
- The moment the new companies jargon makes sense and you start to use the internal buzzwords to hold and form a conversation with these words included (likely to be in 3-10 days)
- When you take on a project as a lead and the team clicks and just before the delivery you know you’ve all done a great job and you’re going to hit or surpass that big goal and trust in you and the team spreads in the organisation (likely in first 30 days)
- Finding that person you know will be a partner in crime, a sparring partner and a supporter. (likely after day 60)
As a consultant, you have 3 milestones you need to hit:
- A quick soundbite or a nugget of advice that lands well – forming signals to trust you and your expertise (likely in week 1)
- Delivery of a project (you or the team) and it gains some traction – a strong signal to trust you (likely by week 6)
- A significant change in performance, this goes a long way to building the relationship and often is when you are fully trusted or they continue your contract (likely around week 8)
As a coach, I have also found there are 3 milestones that come up
- The early lightbulb moment, when you help the “player” find the light switch and offer the ability to use your knowledge and your coaching techniques to switch on the light themselves (likely in session 1 or 2)
- The true lightbulb moment, when you enable the player to unlock something they already knew but have locked away or forgotten about said power or knowledge, seeing the lightbulb go off and celebrating the micro-moment is essential (likely in sessions 3-4)
- When the player knows they can face the marathon again, the moment cannot be ignored and as a coach, you should capture this and help the player to bottle up that feeling and open it back up when they need to or feel like they need that extra. (likely in sessions 5-7)
Q» Are there 3 moments or 3 themes you and your business could apply or revisit onboarding to enable a great onboarding experience?
This week’s focus item is to know the 3 moments in your work processes to improve the team’s experiences and enlighten other leaders of the 3-3-3s.
Have a productive week and remember to sign up to receive this newsletter in your inbox each and every week
Thanks,
Danny Denhard
