As entrepreneurs we are often our own support staff and certainly are our own cheerleading team. That’s one of the reasons I love using a 5:15 report.
The 5:15 report is a powerful tool for both support and acknowledgment. Whether you are facilitating a committee, an office full of people, or focusing on your own individual business, the 5:15 report will help you and the people you are working with to stay on target, shorten meeting times and allow space for everyone to acknowledge what they accomplished, what worked and what they would like to change.
If you are working with others a 5-15 report lets each team member know about what’s going on with specific projects, people and processes. It helps to quickly identify what is working, and what is not. It provides a forum for celebrating success, asking for help when needed, smoothing potential pockets of disharmony, and passing along information of interest.
The 5:15 should take no more than 15 minutes to write and 5 minutes to read. The process has three parts:
- A simple description of what you did during the week/month. (I do mine weekly).
- An honest description of your state of mind and the climate you see around you.
- One idea that will improve your job, department, or organization.
I use a table format in which I ask myself the following questions:
5-15 REPORT
for the (time frame, week or month)
For (your name)
Intentions for this week
What I accomplished
What’s working?
What could be improved?
How am I feeling? What is the climate of the group?
Good Idea (what one thing will make the biggest improvement in my life, work or the organization?)
What concrete steps will I take to make this happen? By when?
Intentions for the next week. (If this is for a committee, this line could be “Add to the Agenda.”)
Today’s Date
Sometimes as I complete a task I add it to my 5:15 during the week. On Friday afternoon I take time to complete my 5:15 and acknowledge how much I accomplished during the past week. As I write my intentions for the following week it gives me an opportunity to rethink, reevaluate and refocus my goals and intentions.
Setting an intention moves me forward energetically.
The 5:15 acts as an acknowledgment for what you have accomplished, a reality check about how things are going, and a “do-next” reminder for yourself.
Enjoy.
