How to Roll Out EOS® Across Your Entire Organization Using Ninety
A company-wide rollout brings the tools, language, and disciplines of EOS® (the Entrepreneurial Operating System®) from your leadership team to every department. Start the rollout once your leadership team holds a weekly Level 10 Meeting® (L10®) and tracks a weekly Scorecard (your weekly metrics dashboard), which are Steps 1 to 3 of the Ninety Proven Process. The rest of your company sees the vision before your leadership team's first Quarterly Planning Meeting, and departments set their own Rocks (90-day priorities) after it.
This guide is for the leadership team and the Rollout Champion who leads the work. For the full five-step path, see Welcome to Ninety: Everything You Need to Know.
When each part of your company joins Ninety
Your company joins Ninety in stages, and user roles control who has access at each stage. This keeps the rollout in your leaders' hands, so the company hears about EOS from them before anyone is asked to change how they work.
Leadership team is in | The rest of the company | Role in Ninety |
Steps 1 and 2 | Isn't involved yet | Inactive (can't log in, uses no license, can be placed in a seat on the Accountability Chart) |
Step 3 | Hears a short heads-up from the CEO | Inactive |
Step 4 | Sees the vision at the State of the Company Meeting | Observer (free and view-only, can't own items) |
Step 4 onward | Each department starts its own Level 10 Meeting | A licensed role (Manager or Team Member) for that department's members |
Step 5 | Every team meets weekly, and new hires join on day one | Licensed roles for anyone in a weekly meeting |
Owners, Admins, and Implementers can change a user's role. Managers can't. Observers can't use Ninety's mobile app. For role details, see Ninety's Observer Role Explained and User Roles and Permissions.
Step 1: Appoint a Rollout Champion
A successful rollout needs a single owner. Before anything else, identify your Rollout Champion: the person accountable for driving adoption, supporting new teams, and making sure EOS becomes a lasting habit across the organization.
The Rollout Champion is typically the Integrator™ or a senior operations leader with strong relationships with department heads and a firm grasp of EOS fundamentals. In EOS terms, the Champion holds a Rock for the rollout each quarter until the whole organization is running on the tools.
What a Rollout Champion Rock might look like:
Weeks 1–2: Confirm the team list and the State of the Company Meeting date with the leadership team.
Weeks 3–4: Hold the State of the Company Meeting and the manager training session.
Weeks 5–6: Create each department's team in Ninety, move its members to licensed roles, and confirm they've accepted their invitations.
Weeks 7–8: Confirm every department holds a weekly Level 10 Meeting on the essentials agenda.
End of quarter: Every department has met weekly and is ready to set Rocks after the leadership team's first Quarterly Planning Meeting.
The Champion should check in with each department leader at least once during the rollout quarter, either in a 1-on-1 or as a standing agenda item in the leadership team's Level 10 Meeting.
Step 2: Build The Accountability Chart® and draft your V/TO®
Before the rest of your company sees the vision, your leadership team builds The Accountability Chart® (your org structure in EOS) and drafts the Vision/Traction Organizer® (V/TO®). Both are worked on outside the weekly Level 10 Meeting.
Watch the video below for how to build your Accountability Chart in Ninety.
The video covers:
Your primary chart, which everyone can see unless you make it leadership-only, and the draft versions and scenarios you can build alongside it.
Editing seats, including roles and responsibilities, seat holders, and attachments.
Using Maz, Ninety's AI companion, to review a seat against EOS best practices.
Adding, moving, and restructuring seats, including putting more than one person in a seat.
Build the Accountability Chart around the seats your company needs, then put the right person in each one.
One name per seat. One person can sit in two seats, but two people never share one.
About five roles per seat. Each seat lists the five or so responsibilities that define it.
Look ahead. Build for where the company is going in the next 6 to 12 months.
Ninety starts new companies with six default seats that you can rename, edit, or remove. Inactive users can be placed in a seat, so the whole company can appear on the chart before anyone else has access. For the steps, see Introduction to the Accountability Chart and Creating, Editing, and Customizing Seats.
Watch the video below for how to set up your V/TO in Ninety.
The video covers:
The Vision page: Core Values, Core Focus™, 10-Year Target™, Marketing Strategy, and 3-Year Picture™.
The Traction page: the 1-Year Plan, your 90-day Rocks, and long-term Issues.
Linking goals to Rocks, and how company Rocks appear on the V/TO automatically.
Sharing the V/TO with every team or running a separate V/TO for a team.
Your V/TO is reviewed at every Quarterly Planning Meeting and never in a Level 10 Meeting. A realistic first draft covers Core Values, Core Focus, 10-Year Target, 3-Year Picture, and 1-Year Plan before you share it with the company. For the steps, see Introduction to the V/TO.
Step 3: Run a State of the Company Meeting
Before introducing any tools, your leadership team explains the why to the entire organization in a State of the Company Meeting. It's the first time the whole company sees the V/TO and the Accountability Chart.
The State of the Company Meeting is a deliberate, structured message from leadership. It answers three questions every employee will have: Why are we doing this? What does it mean for me? What happens next?
This meeting should cover:
Your company's V/TO: the vision, the Core Values, the Core Focus, and the long-term targets your leadership team has set.
A plain-language explanation of EOS and why your company runs on it.
What employees can expect during the rollout (new tools, new meeting schedules, and new language), and how it will help them do their work.
The name of the Rollout Champion and how to reach them with questions.
Keep it to 45 minutes or less. Here's an example agenda.
Segment | Time |
Wins from the last quarter | 10 minutes |
The V/TO and the Accountability Chart | 20 minutes |
What's next and how departments will start meeting | 10 minutes |
Questions | 5 minutes |
Before the meeting, set Ninety up so everyone can see what you present:
Open the V/TO page, choose the Leadership Team in the toolbar at the top of the page, and turn on Share V/TO with All Teams. Owners, Admins, Implementers, and Managers see this toggle. Every team can then open the Leadership Team's V/TO with View Leadership V/TO, and your long-term Issues stay private. See Display the Organization's Vision across All Teams.
Change everyone outside the leadership team from Inactive to Observer so they can view the V/TO and the Accountability Chart for free. Owners, Admins, and Implementers can change roles.
Present from Ninety, so everyone sees the tools they'll use.
The Visionary or Integrator should run this meeting. When employees experience the rollout as an invitation, adoption follows naturally. Skipping this step is one of the most common reasons company-wide rollouts stall.
Step 4: Host a manager training session
Before department leaders run their own Level 10 Meetings, they need to understand how to use Ninety and how EOS tools apply at the department level. The manager training session is where this happens.
The Rollout Champion typically facilitates this session, ideally within the first two weeks of the rollout quarter. It should cover:
A walkthrough of Ninety's core tools: V/TO, Scorecard, Rocks, Meetings, and To-Dos.
How department-level tools connect to the leadership team's V/TO and company Rocks.
How to set up a team Scorecard with the right Measurables.
How to run a department-level Level 10 Meeting, starting with the essential agenda.
Where to go for help: the Ninety Learning Hub in the Knowledge Portal, live training webinars, and the Client Success team.
A recording of this session, shared through the Knowledge Portal's Ninety Learning Hub, can serve as an onboarding resource for department leaders who join after the initial rollout.
Step 5: Add department teams and licensed roles
With the company informed and managers trained, build out each department in Ninety and give its members the access they need to run a weekly meeting. Owners, Admins, Implementers, and Managers can create teams. Owners, Admins, and Implementers can change user roles.
Adding teams: In the Directory, create a team for each department participating in the rollout. Each team should reflect a real reporting structure: the people who will meet together weekly, share a Scorecard, and set Rocks together. See Creating New Teams.
Giving members licensed roles: When a department is ready to start its Level 10 Meeting, add its members to the department's team and change each one from Observer to a licensed role. Here's a quick guide to the most common roles at the department level:
Manager: Department leaders who run their team's Level 10 Meetings, manage Rocks, and oversee Scorecard data. This is the right role for most people who report directly to the leadership team.
Team Member (Managee): Individual contributors who take part in Level 10 Meetings, own To-Dos and Rocks, and contribute to Scorecard Measurables.
Observer: Everyone who isn't in a department's weekly meeting yet, plus stakeholders (executives, board members, or cross-functional partners) who need visibility without participating. Observers are free.
Admin: Reserved for people who need to manage users and settings across the platform.
Manager, Team Member, and Admin roles each need a paid license. For full role details, see User Roles and Permissions.
Step 6: Start department Level 10 Meetings®
Each department holds its own weekly Level 10 Meeting, on the same day and time each week. Department meetings typically run 60 minutes, compared with 90 minutes for the leadership team. Owners, Admins, Implementers, and Managers can schedule meetings.
Start each department on the essentials: Segue, To-Do List, IDS® (Identify, Discuss, and Solve), and Conclude. Skip the other sections until the team sets up those tools. Add Headlines once the team is meeting weekly, then the Scorecard and Rock Review once the department has its own Scorecard and Rocks. This is the same order your leadership team followed in Steps 1 to 3.
The full Level 10 agenda for department teams, once every tool is in place:
Segue, or good news (5 minutes).
Scorecard review (5 minutes).
Rock review (5 minutes).
Customer and employee Headlines (5 minutes).
To-Do List review (5 minutes).
IDS (30–60 minutes).
Conclude, with a recap of To-Dos, cascading messages, and the meeting rating (5 minutes).
For scheduling steps, see Scheduling Meetings and Managing Meeting Agendas.
Step 7: Train your teams
Ninety offers several training options to help new users get up to speed quickly. Make these resources available to department leaders and team members at the start of the rollout.
Available training resources:
Weekly live training webinars: Free, hosted regularly, and open to all users. Ideal for new team members who want a guided walkthrough of Ninety's core tools.
Team training sessions: Schedule a dedicated training call for your department with Ninety's Client Success team. This is a popular option for teams with 10 or more new users.
CS office hours: Drop-in sessions for users who have specific questions or want live guidance on a particular feature.
Ninety Learning Hub: Available inside the Knowledge Portal, the Learning Hub includes a dedicated "Company-Wide Rollout" topic built for this stage of your EOS journey. Share this topic with new managers and team members during onboarding.
To schedule a team training session or access office hours, contact your Client Success manager or visit Ninety's events page.
Step 8: Set department Rocks and Scorecards after your first Quarterly
Departments set their own Rocks and Scorecards after your leadership team's first Quarterly Planning Meeting, so every department's goals support the new company Rocks. After that meeting, share the new company Rocks with every team as a Headline.
Department Rocks: Department Rocks are the most important priorities for that team over the current quarter, and they should directly support the company's Rocks. Two rules of thumb help size them: each department sets 3–7 Rocks, and each team member outside the leadership team usually carries one to three.
To create department Rocks in Ninety:
Open the Rocks tool and select the department team.
Add each Rock with a clear, measurable title, an owner, and a due date (typically the last day of the quarter).
Designate the Rocks that carry team-level priority as departmental.
Mark each Rock on track or off track every week during the Level 10 Meeting.
For example, if a company Rock is "Launch the maintenance-plan program," the Operations team's Rock might be "Train all techs on the maintenance checklist." For Rock levels, see Types of Rocks.
Department Scorecards: Each team needs a Scorecard with 5–15 Measurables that give leaders a weekly pulse on that department's health. Include activity-based leading indicators (numbers that team members control week to week) alongside results.
To set up a team Scorecard:
Open the Scorecard tool and select the department team.
Add Measurables that reflect the team's most important weekly activities and outcomes.
Assign an owner to each Measurable, the person responsible for updating the number each week.
Set a goal for each Measurable.
If a Measurable already exists on another team's Scorecard, share it rather than duplicate it, so everyone sees the same number. See Sharing and Duplicating Measurables.
Step 9: Set up team V/TOs (optional)
Once a department's weekly meetings, Rocks, and Scorecard are in place, it can set up its own V/TO that aligns with and supports the company V/TO. The department's Core Focus, 1-Year Plan, Rocks, and Issues should all align with the leadership team's vision.
To create a team V/TO in Ninety:
Click V/TO in the left navigation.
Select the team from the Team dropdown.
Work through the V/TO sections, making sure the department's 1-year goals align with the company's 1-Year Plan.
To keep a section like Core Values identical on every team, cascade it from the Leadership Team's V/TO. A cascaded section can't be edited by individual teams. Cascading needs the Custom Vision setting turned on in Company Settings. See Display the Organization's Vision across All Teams.
Keep the rollout going every quarter
The rollout keeps going every quarter: plan the quarter, share it with the company, and bring each new team into the same system.
Hold a State of the Company Meeting after every Quarterly, 45 minutes or less, including the new company Rocks. Update the V/TO first so every team sees the latest version.
Bring every new team through the same steps. Each new team starts with its first Level 10 Meeting, then builds the habit, then adds its own tools.
Add new hires to their team on day one, so the weekly meeting is part of how they learn the company. Onboarding New Team Members with the EOS Powered by Ninety Guide gives them a 10-week learning path.
Hold Quarterly Conversations™ between each manager and direct report in the month after each Quarterly Planning Meeting.
For the quarterly session itself, see Quarterly Meetings on Ninety.
Troubleshooting
Issue: A user shows as Active but says they never received an invitation email.
Solution:
Ask them to check their spam or junk folder.
Have an Owner or Admin resend the invitation from the Directory.
For more fixes, see Troubleshooting Invitation Issues and Resending Invites. If the issue persists, contact support.
Issue: A department member can't create Rocks, Issues, or To-Dos.
Solution:
Check their role in the Directory. Observers can view items but can't own or create them.
Have an Owner, Admin, or Implementer change them to a licensed role.
If the issue persists, contact support.
Issue: A teammate can't see the company V/TO.
Solution:
Ask the teammate to open the V/TO page for their own team and click View Leadership V/TO.
If that button doesn't appear, sharing is off. An Owner, Admin, Implementer, or Manager chooses the Leadership Team in the V/TO toolbar and turns on Share V/TO with All Teams.
Check that the teammate is a member of at least one team.
If the issue persists, contact support.
Frequently asked questions
When should we start rolling out EOS to the rest of the company?
Start once your leadership team holds a weekly Level 10 Meeting and enters every Scorecard number before every meeting. The rest of the company sees the vision at a State of the Company Meeting before your leadership team's first Quarterly Planning Meeting.
Do employees need a paid license to see the V/TO?
No. Observers can view the V/TO and the Accountability Chart for free. Employees need a licensed role once they own Rocks, Issues, or To-Dos in their department's weekly meeting.
Should departments set Rocks right away?
No. Departments set Rocks after the leadership team's first Quarterly Planning Meeting, so their Rocks support the new company Rocks. Each department usually sets 3–7, and each team member usually carries one to three.
How long should a department Level 10 Meeting be?
Department Level 10 Meetings typically run 60 minutes, compared with 90 minutes for the leadership team. New departments start with Segue, To-Do List, IDS, and Conclude, and add sections as they set up their tools.