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Module 7 - The Rainmaker's Dilemma

  • Updated

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Prior to Starting Module 7

Steps in The Rainmaker's Dilemma

  1. List Business Activities
  2. Estimate Time Spent on Activities
  3. Stack Rank Activities
  4. Indicate Time to See a Negative Impact
  5. Review Time Map
  6. Select Activities To Stop
  7. Indicate How Freed Up Time Should be Spent

 

The purpose of The Rainmaker's Dilemma tool is to examine how the types of activities owners spend their time on in their business impact the value of their company. Use this tool to advise owners to rethink their role within their and help them take actionable steps to increase their company's value while avoiding the downhill trap of becoming the Rainmaker.

Prior to Starting The Rainmaker's Dilemma

  • Share the Module 7 Agenda which outlines the pre-work that a business owner should complete prior to your meeting. This can be found in Contacts > Value Builder Engagement Program > +Module > Meeting Agenda.
  • Ask your client to watch the Tutorial Videos in Module 7 which explain why getting their Value Builder Score is important and how to improve their score. Note: You can review the tutorial videos below.

  • Check your Value Builder Engagement Settings. Ensure this exercise is visible to owners in the Engagement Settings, by going to Value Builder Engagement Program Settings > Hub & Spoke Settings > Enable.

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  • Ensure that you have activated Module 7 for the business owner.

 

Steps to Completing The Rainmaker's Dilemma

Follow the steps below to run an effective meeting using the Rainmaker's Dilemma tool:

Start a new exercise.

  1. Owner Lists Business Activities Done in a Typical Workweek
     

    Have your owner look over their email history and recent calendar entries to remind themselves of business activities they do in a typical workweek. These can be everything from the most mundane daily tasks, like checking emails, to the most strategic projects, like planning a nurturing campaign or product launch.

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  2. Indicate Average Time Spent on Each Activity
     

    Have them think about and estimate the average time spent on these activities each week. If an activity is done on a monthly basis, have them divide the time spent on that activity by 4 to get the average amount of time spent on it in a week.

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  3. Stack Rank Activities
     

    Your business owner clients will have both strengths and weaknesses when it comes to the activities they do in their business. Have them rank the activities based on how well they leverage their unique skills. Activities that leverage more of their skills should be moved to the top of the list. Activities that leverage fewer of their skills should be dragged to the bottom of the list.

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  4. Indicate the Length of Time to See an Impact
     

    Have the owner Indicate how long it would take to see a negative impact on their business should they stop doing an activity tomorrow. When having them think through this piece have them think about the ROI on their invested time on each activity.

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  5. Review the Time Maps
     

    Review the business owner's Time Map, which categorizes their activities and depicts where they are spending their time. Compare their Time Map to that of how owners of the most valuable businesses tend to spend their time. There is no ideal number of hours that an owner should spend on activities in each category; however, owners of the most valuable businesses invest most of their time in “Architect” activities—those that leverage their skills yet take longer to have an impact on the business.

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  6. Select to Stop Doing or Continue Doing Each Activity
    To optimize the way an owner invests their time, they need to consider reducing the time spent on activities listed in the “Rainmaker” and “Generalist” categories by selecting Stop Doing. These are activities that they would like to stop doing or significantly reduce their time in and therefore should be delegated off their plate.
     

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  7. Review The Original and Proposed Time Maps
     

    Now that an owner has reduced their time spent on "Rainmaker" and “Generalist" activities they have freed up the time to focus on “Architect” activities. Have them think through and list out the type of Architect activities they may want to invest in now that they have additional time freed up in their workweek.

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