How To Run Projects Without Breaking EOS

When you kick off a project inside a business that runs on EOS, you expect the work to stay aligned and move cleanly. You already have a system for priorities, accountability, and follow-through, so the project should benefit from that structure.

Over time, projects start to feel heavier when they get run alongside EOS instead of inside it. Extra meetings appear because “the project needs its own rhythm.” Ownership gets muddy because project responsibilities don’t line up with the Accountability Chart. The project becomes a magnet for attention, while Rocks and Scorecard numbers quietly lose focus. Other times it goes the other way: Rocks demand more attention, the quarter gets busy, and the project gets parked without anyone saying it out loud. Eventually, the leadership team is busy, but progress feels harder to see.

Projects still matter. The difference is how you anchor them. The goal is keeping project work inside EOS so priorities stay clear, ownership stays obvious, and progress stays visible at the right level.

Table of Contents

• Start With Your V/TO Before You Start The Project
• Use Your Issues Lists As A Project Filter
• Check Project Ownership Against The Accountability Chart
• Build A Project Scorecard
• Use The Meeting Rhythm You Already Have
• Use Rocks To Drive Project Milestones
• Keep Core Values In The Project Room
• Use Reporting And Templates To Support L10s
• Running Projects In Strety
• What You’re Aiming For

Start With Your V/TO Before You Start The Project

When you set up a project, bring it back to your V/TO and check that the work is in line with where the organisation is going. That means looking at the one-year plan, the three-year picture, and the ten-year target, then making sure the project belongs there.

A practical way to do this at kickoff is to answer three questions in writing:

• Where does this project sit on the V/TO (one-year plan, three-year picture, or ten-year target)?
• What does “done” change for the organisation in that timeframe?
• Which priorities does it support, and which priorities does it compete with?

When you do this up front, you create a clear reason for the project to exist, and you make the later decisions easier.

Use Your Issues Lists As A Project Filter

Most projects exist because something important needs to be fixed, improved, or built. EOS already gives you a place to capture those things, so use it.

Keep referring back to:

• the long-term issues list on your V/TO
• the short-term issues list inside your Level 10 meetings

If the project is supposed to address an issue, keep that link visible. It helps you stay clear on why the work matters, and it gives you a natural place to bring blockers and decision points when they show up.

A simple tool here is to name the connection early:

• “This project exists to resolve this issue.”
• “These are the outcomes we expect once this issue is resolved.”

Check Project Ownership Against The Accountability Chart

Projects create new work, and new work creates accountability. Before you kick off, check that the accountabilities assigned through the project are in line with your Accountability Chart.

This step saves you later confusion, because misalignment here is where projects often become messy. If accountabilities do not line up, raise it early as an issue for discussion before the project begins. You can also raise it as an issue inside the project itself using your project issue management approach, as long as it gets resolved.

A quick ownership check you can use:

• Who owns the outcome of this project?
• Which seat is accountable for the major parts of delivery?
  Where are you relying on “someone will just handle it” instead of clear ownership?

Build A Project Scorecard

Nothing stops you from building a scorecard for the project. A few clear measurables keep progress visible and give you a clean way to see whether the project is tracking.

You can also keep project visibility at leadership level without needing every detail. If you have multiple projects running, your leadership team scorecard can include a simple view such as the number of projects on time and on budget. In many cases, that’s enough to keep awareness high and support decisions when trade-offs appear.

Use The Meeting Rhythm You Already Have

Level 10 meetings across your organisation already exist to keep work moving. Use them to run project work efficiently and effectively instead of reinventing the wheel with new meeting structures.

Your existing L10 structure gives you clear places to manage a project:

• Scorecard: track measurable progress
• Issues: surface blockers and solve them using IDS
• Headlines: raise customer and employee updates that affect delivery
• To-Dos: keep actions owned and closed
  

When you plug the project into the meeting rhythm you already rely on, you keep visibility high without creating a separate world of meetings and reporting.

Use Rocks To Drive Project Milestones

Rocks are a powerful crossover point between EOS and project work. If your project has milestones that sit roughly three months apart, Rocks give you a clean way to drive delivery.

This also creates options for support across the organisation. People do not need to be directly involved in the project to contribute to a milestone. A Rock gives you a clear way to assign ownership, keep the milestone visible, and bring focus to the work that matters most.

Keep Core Values In The Project Room

Project work doesn’t change the standard. Core Values still apply, whether someone is working in a project or inside their day-to-day responsibilities.

Use Core Values as the expectation for how people show up, how they communicate, and how they deliver. When pressure increases, behaviour becomes more visible, so this is the time to hold the standard that already exists across the organisation.

Use Reporting And Templates To Support L10s

Project reporting is useful when it helps people see what they need to see quickly. If you are using reports and templates inside your project management approach, attach those reports to the relevant L10 meetings so the right people can review them when they need to.

This keeps project visibility high without creating a separate reporting universe outside EOS.

Running Projects In Strety

If you’re already using Strety, keep your project work in the same place so updates, owners, and follow-through stay visible.

A simple way to do that is to mirror the structure you’re already using in EOS:

• At kickoff, write a one-line purpose for the project and link it to the V/TO priority or the issue it is meant to resolve.
• Assign one clear owner and keep ownership obvious as tasks and milestones get distributed.
• Track a small set of project measurables so progress is easy to see in the week.
• Use your existing L10 flow to manage the work: raise blockers as Issues, solve them in IDS, and turn decisions into To-Dos with owners and due dates you review each week.
• Keep project reporting lightweight by attaching the right update to the right meeting, rather than creating a separate reporting stream.
  

When your project work lives inside the EOS software you already rely on, you spend less time chasing updates and more time making decisions that move the work forward.

What You’re Aiming For

When you leverage EOS and project management together, projects stay aligned to the direction of the organisation, accountabilities stay clear, issues get solved in the right place, and progress remains visible at the right level.

That’s how you deliver projects and keep EOS doing what you chose it for in the first place.