high-output-management

What it does

Instructs the agent to apply Grove's High Output Management framework to manage teams by focusing on the organization’s output, using high-leverage activities, and structuring calendars, meetings, reviews, and planning to maximize impact. It emphasizes production principles for knowledge work, indicators of output, managerial leverage, and meetings as the medium of management.

How it works

The skill outlines concrete concepts and practices:

• Managerial output equals the organization’s output plus influenced neighbors; prioritize high-leverage actions and minimize negative leverage.
• Use a scoring system (0-10) to assess management practices, calendars, and processes against defined levels (9-10, 7-8, etc.), describing what distinguishes each tier.
• Production principles: identify limiting steps, fix at the lowest-value stage, batch high-cost activities, and forecast versus order work.
• Indicators that don’t lie: measure output (shipped features, problems solved) with paired quality indicators; use leading indicators and stagger charts.
• Managerial leverage: treat calendar as production system; forecast events, batch tasks, and say no when capacity is full; monitor at the task level and tailor depth by TRM; batch interruptions via office hours.
• Meetings are the medium of management: designate regular process-oriented meetings (1:1s, staff meetings, operation reviews) and ad hoc mission meetings for decisions; set 1:1 frequency by task-relevant maturity; supervisor records notes and actions; avoid hijacking 1:1s for status only.
• Decisions and planning (incl. OKRs): facilitate free discussion, clear decisions, and broad support; assign decisions to the lowest competent level; use six-question briefs for decision prep; cascade OKRs.
• TRM-based approach: adjust management style to subordinate task-relevant maturity; structure performance reviews as key feedback for improvement; avoid mismatched styles.

When to use it

Triggers include mentions of high output management, managerial leverage, one-on-ones, 1:1 agenda, OKRs, performance reviews, task-relevant maturity, delegation, meeting overload, new manager, or how to run a 1:1. Also applies when structuring a manager’s calendar, planning, coaching delegation, or preparing performance reviews.

What it can touch

Tools and concepts explicitly touched by the skill include calendar design, 1:1s, reviews, OKRs, planning processes, delegation protocols, and TO-DO/indicators modeling; it references specific practices like forecasting key events, batching, and TRM-based monitoring depth.

Caveats

License: MIT. The content emphasizes measurements and governance practices; careful handling is required to avoid treating people as mere indicators or over-optimizing for metrics at the expense of performance and development.