Headwater is software for running a company’s plan, from the vision at the top to what each person does on Monday morning.
At the top is the vision, which says where the company wants to be in a few years. Under it are a few pillars. These are the goals that matter most for getting there, and under each pillar are initiatives, which are the projects the company runs to reach it.
Each quarter, the company, each team, and each person set climbs. A climb is a priority that has to be finished by the end of the quarter. Each climb has dated milestones, and the ones due this week are on the owner’s list on Monday morning.
Everyone should be able to see the whole plan.
In Headwater, everyone in the company can see the vision, every pillar and initiative, and every team’s climbs. The only private records are 1:1 notes, which only the person and their managers can see.
Everything should have one owner.
Every climb, initiative, and issue has one person’s name on it. When a climb needs work from someone else, that person owns a climb of their own that supports it.
Progress should come from milestones.
A climb’s progress is the share of its milestones that are ticked, and it adds up into the initiative, the pillar, and the company. Whether a climb is on track is its owner’s call, and they make it every Monday.
The plan should be updated every week.
Owners check in on their climbs every Monday, and the check-in takes about five minutes. Each team meets in a huddle once a week. The huddle takes one hour and keeps to the same agenda every week.
Priorities should be set a quarter at a time.
Climbs are set at the start of each quarter and are due within it. At the end of the quarter, each climb is marked done, carried over, or dropped, and then the new climbs are set.
A headwater is where a river starts. We named Headwater after it because it’s where a company’s plan starts.
Book a demo and we’ll show you how Headwater would run your week, from the vision down to Monday morning.