Peak month is a month at the high point of the year, when work or deadlines are more concentrated than in regular months. It is also commonly called the "busy season" (a peak in the seasonal fluctuation of demand, or seasonality). There are two types: those decided from last year's order records, and those fixed in advance by the calendar or by regulations. Pages are not rebuilt in a peak month.
At the start of each regular month, the top executive writes just three things in the Internal Memo: the name of the next peak month; how many weeks remain until that peak month; and who is responsible for leaving this month's Sheet. When the preparation start date (30 days, 6 weeks, or 8 weeks ahead) arrives, switch to the four weeks in Chapter 3.
Week 1: The top executive opens the last Three Lines and decides which Sheet to leave this month.
Week 2: The assigned employee photographs that Sheet. If the Sheet already exists, they write the specifications beside it.
Week 3: Based on that Sheet, the assigned employee drafts the Line for the homepage.
Week 4: The top executive checks whether the Sheet left in the Folder is the same one decided in week 1. If it isn't, the same Sheet is to be left again the following month. Don't switch to a different Sheet.
Figure 6. The four weeks of a regular month
There are four things you don't do in a regular month: rebuild the website, add new announcements, increase quotes unrelated to the peak month, and let employees try out tools on their own. None of these is bad in itself. But doing them makes it more likely that, 30 days before the next peak month, the Sheet won't be in the Folder.
The weekly check in a regular month can be much shorter than in a peak month. On Friday, the top executive looks at just two things: whether the name of this month's Sheet was recorded, and whether drafts returned to Blank have properly stopped before being finalized. Tracking the remaining quota is done only in peak months. If you start tracking it in regular months too, you'll find that every month has become a peak month.
▶ Decided by the top executive
• At the start of the year, decide the peak months from last year's order records, and write last year's numbers and the multipliers in the Internal Memo.
• Also at the start of the year, decide the preparation start date (30 days, 6 weeks, or 8 weeks ahead) based on the multiplier.
• Before the peak month begins, designate one person who is allowed to correct errors.
• At the start of each regular month, write the name of the next peak month, the number of weeks until then, and who is responsible for leaving this month's Sheet.
• Decide that multiplier-based goals will not be used in performance reviews.
• Also write the chosen peak months, multipliers, and preparation start dates in the fields in Chapter 14.
▶ Asked of employees
• In regular months, focus only on leaving the designated Sheet in the designated week.
• Make sure everyone shares the understanding that no pages are added or rebuilt during peak months.
Peak months change from "months that feel busy somehow" into a few months a year decided from records. Because goals are tied to last year's records and separated from performance reviews, it becomes less likely that employees' evaluations drop because of an ambitious goal. And regular months gradually start to function not as months for rebuilding, but as months for leaving the Sheet for the next peak month. Annual Quota Optimization means building this state into your plan every year.
Key points: Decide peak months—only a few a year—using last year's results as the yardstick. The only new thing left in a regular month is the Sheet for the next peak month. Pages are not rebuilt during a peak month. This rule continues to the end of the book.
AQ GROW | AI Search Structure