is a regular, structured meeting where business owners and managers review key performance indicators and metrics to evaluate the health and progress of the business. There are several reasons why implementing a consistent WBR can be beneficial for a business:

• Tracks progress towards goals:
  A WBR provides a cadence for frequently reviewing how well the business is performing towards its key goals and objectives, whether those are revenue targets, customer acquisition goals, project milestones, etc. It enables course correction if needed.
• Improves communication and transparency:
  By bringing together cross-functional leaders from sales, marketing, operations, etc., it ensures better transparency into what each team is working on and facilitates collaboration. Everyone has more context on the top priorities.
• Drives accountability:
  Putting reviews into a consistent weekly cadence drives accountability amongst managers and executives. Decisions can be followed up on and there are regular opportunities for raising concerns.
• Provides important insights:
  Looking at week-over-week and year-over-year trends in the data presented at a WBR can uncover important issues or opportunities. Business leaders can spot potential problems sooner.
• Promotes agility:
  Meeting weekly means strategies and tactics can be adjusted much faster based on the insights and learnings coming out of each meeting. Businesses can pivot quicker.

(Define, Identify, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control)

Define:

The primary objective at this stage is to ensure a comprehensive understanding of the fundamental elements that drive your business. The book emphasizes the importance of selecting metrics for regular monitoring during the Weekly Business Review (WBR) with the specific intention of gaining deeper insights into the distinct components of the Amazon flywheel, as illustrated above. Drawing from my experience as a Reforge alum, I predominantly perceive the flywheel as Amazon’s growth loop or a resilient engine for sustainable growth.

Identify:

Once we grasp the overarching mechanism governing the business’s growth loop, the next step involves pinpointing the critical metrics. In Amazon’s context, these metrics serve as direct levers that Amazon can actively manipulate to impact the components of the Flywheel, namely Selection, Price, Traffic, and Customer Experience. The Identify phase extensively delves into the significance of input metrics—those directly within a business’s control, such as price, inventory, and the number of listings—compared to output metrics like revenue or stock prices, which are outcomes downstream of input metrics. While output metrics hold undeniable importance, they lack the immediate actionability of input metrics, as companies do not possess direct influence over them.

Measure:

This segment focuses on the practicalities of actively gathering and quantifying metrics. In today’s digital era, there’s a common misconception that data is readily available, but those immersed in the field of data understand that it often necessitates the development of new tools, processes, and infrastructure before accurate data collection can occur. The authors underscore the importance of establishing the Finance team as an impartial entity, devoid of emotional investment in metric fluctuations, allowing for an objective assessment of trends. Notably, the authors highlight the potential pitfalls of tracking inappropriate metrics, citing the example of the number of listings as an initial Weekly Business Review (WBR) metric. Over time, it required refinement to ensure it prompted the right actions, as an exclusive focus on increasing this metric led to the creation of numerous listing pages for products not of interest to customers or for products not readily available for shipping. A key insight emphasizes the need for regular iterations, updates, edits, and audits of WBR metrics to ensure ongoing relevance. Given potential biases in data collection, qualitative audits, such as comparing with customer anecdotes, serve as a strategic approach to verify that metrics align with the business’s intended measurements.

Analyze:

This phase is particularly familiar to those tasked with elucidating deviations in trends during a Weekly Business Review (WBR). The objective here is to comprehend why a metric might deviate beyond the realm of normal variation. One effective approach involves iterative questioning, known as the “five whys,” until a root cause is pinpointed. The outcome of this investigative process often materializes in an exception report, outlining the “whys” or root causes and proposing corresponding actions or next steps to rectify or enhance each identified issue, preventing the recurrence of undesirable trends.

Improve:

True progress toward meaningful improvements commences only when a business has established robust, actionable metrics for monitoring. This signifies a stage where the business measures actual signals rather than extraneous metrics that either lie beyond their control or lack significant relevance to the business. Otherwise, attempts at “improvements” may yield metric changes that fail to translate into substantial benefits for the business.

Control:

A noteworthy insight from the Control phase underscores the dynamic nature of Weekly Business Reviews (WBRs), emphasizing their need to evolve in response to the evolving needs of the business. Another critical consideration involves conducting regular WBR process audits and discerning the opportune moments for automation. Automation becomes a viable option after numerous iterations on metrics, ensuring their enduring relevance and usefulness. Once this stability is achieved, new processes and tools can be developed to support and enhance the efficacy of those established metrics.

Implementing a weekly business review (WBR) meeting cadence brings significant strategic and operational benefits for companies of all sizes. Doing a WBR entails gathering key cross-functional leadership on a weekly basis to review essential performance indicators, discuss ongoing initiatives, and make critical decisions. A well-orchestrated weekly review rhythm is a best practice leveraged by leading-edge enterprises to empower leaders, encourage alignment, enhance accountability, and boost competitive advantage.