Why Your Team Is Stuck, And 7 Steps to Regain Control with EOS® and OKRs

Me: Bob, it's a pleasure to meet you.

Bob: Likewise. Here’s why I reached out: We’ve had strong growth in the past, but now we’re stuck. We’re dealing with people issues, profit’s tight, and frankly, nothing feels like it’s working anymore.

Me: I hear you, and I've been there myself. I've also coached 50+ entrepreneurs who have felt that way. The key isn’t working harder. It's slowing down to speed up. Implementing a complete operating system like EOS can get you what you want from your business. 

Bob: That sounds good in theory. But we’ve already rolled out OKRs and a bunch of other tools.

Me: Totally get that. Most of the teams I work with have done the same. EOS doesn’t replace everything. It brings all your tools together under one system so your team’s not pulling in different directions. Want to see how that looks in practice?

Yes, Bob is fictional but I’ve had this conversation more times than I can count. When a team hits the point where nothing seems to be working, the signs are everywhere. The same conversations show up in meetings week after week without any forward progress. Priorities keep shifting because there's no alignment on what matters most. Issues stay on the agenda and never actually get resolved. The pace feels fast, but the outcomes don’t match the effort.

When this happens, leaders begin questioning every part of the business: the plan, the tools, and sometimes even the team around them. I’ve seen capable organizations end up in this position not because their people lack talent or drive, but because they're operating without a system that gives their team clarity and structure to make real Traction®.

When you incorporate OKRs, your team works together to define clear outcomes everyone can align on and work toward. But OKRs alone aren’t enough. Why? Because when teams feel stuck, they need more than goals. They need an operating system that brings structure, consistency, and a reliable way to diagnose and solve problems.

This is where EOS® becomes essential. And when OKRs live inside your EOS system, teams get the alignment and confidence they need to get unstuck and move forward again.

Why Do Teams Get Stuck?

Organizations rarely hit the ceiling because of a single decision or event. They end up there after a long stretch of competing priorities, inconsistent expectations, and unresolved problems that build on each other. People feel like they’re working harder, but the results don’t reflect the effort. And even though activity increases, the business doesn’t move forward in the way the team projected.

Most teams experience the same indicators when progress slows down:

• People are busy, but they struggle to point to meaningful progress that aligns with the 1-Year Plan, 3-Year Picture, or 10-Year Target.
• Priorities shift based on whatever feels most urgent instead of what the company is actually working toward.
• The team talks about the same issues repeatedly without getting to a solution that actually moves the business forward.
• Ownership becomes unclear, and the team loses confidence in the path ahead.

Establishing OKRs can provide direction for your team, but even with OKRs, there’s still a deeper operational challenge. How can your team achieve the goals you’ve set? When OKRs sit on top of an unstable foundation, they turn into another set of aspirational goals rather than a tool for driving the business forward.

If a team feels stuck, it’s often because they aren’t using a consistent operating system to run the business. The good news is that once they commit to a shared way of working, momentum returns quickly and OKRs start doing the job they were meant to do.

7 Steps to Get Your Team Moving Again

If your team is in a place where it feels like nothing is working to get you moving in the right direction, it’s tempting to overhaul the entire plan and start chasing a new set of goals. But that never solves the real problem.

What does work is getting back to a simple, reliable way of running the business and connecting your goals to a system that gives you structure and clarity. EOS gives you the structure. OKRs help you define the outcomes to get aligned. When they work together, your team gets what it needs most: a path forward that everyone can trust.

Here are seven steps to give your team what it needs to regain control and start making progress again:

1. Reestablish structure before setting goals: Teams often feel stuck because there’s no real accountability for who owns what, so nothing gets done. Before setting new OKRs, use The Accountability Chart® to reset your organizational structure. Make sure every Seat is defined, every function is covered, and every responsibility has one (and only one) owner. This creates a solid foundation for your team to work from.
2. Reconnect the team to a shared direction: Most stalled teams don’t have a strategy problem — they have a clarity problem. Use the V/TO® to ground your team in the 10-Year Target, 3-Year Picture, and 1-Year Plan. When direction is clear, OKRs become far easier to set and execute.
3. Establish short-term goals that support the 1-Year Plan: Stuck teams usually take on too much to try to play “catch-up.” But that only gets you further behind. Narrow your OKRs to a handful of outcomes that actually matter now. Then convert those objectives into quarterly Rocks with one owner (and be sure to make those Rocks SMART).
4. Make key results part of the weekly work: Key results should be tracked and reviewed in the weekly Scorecard. This helps your team spot early warning signs when something’s off, adjust faster, and eliminate surprises at the end of the quarter.
5. IDS® the issues holding the team back: One of the reasons teams get (and stay) stuck is because issues stay unresolved. Use IDS in your weekly meetings to remove the obstacles blocking progress on your OKRs. When issues get solved quickly, confidence starts to build again.
6. Reinforce everything inside a consistent meeting pulse: The Level 10 Meeting® is where your team stays aligned, reviews data, checks in on progress toward your goals, and solves issues. When OKRs live inside this structure, execution becomes consistent and part of the team’s weekly work.
7. Run everything in one place to create visibility and remove complexity: A platform like Ninety brings OKRs, Rocks, Scorecards, Issues, and The Accountability Chart under one roof. This eliminates the scattered tools and spreadsheets that slow teams down. With one system and one source of truth, teams regain clarity faster.

Regaining Control Starts with a Strong Operating System

Teams don’t get stuck overnight, and they don’t get unstuck by pushing harder. They get back on track by returning to a simple, reliable way of running the business. Remember, less is more until it’s not.

EOS gives you that system. OKRs give your team clarity on what matters most. When you use them together, you create alignment, accountability, and confidence — the three things a stalled organization needs most.

With the right structure, a clear set of priorities, and one platform to run everything, teams find momentum again. They make better decisions. They solve issues that once held them back. And they start executing at a level that matches the effort they’re already putting in.

So the next time someone like Bob says they’re stuck, remind them of this: The struggle is real, but they don’t have to stay stuck. EOS gives teams a way out. And with the help of a Professional EOS Implementer®, they can get back on track and get what they want from their business.

If your team is ready to regain control, anchor your OKRs inside EOS and run them in Ninety. It’s the most practical way to restore alignment and build Traction® you can feel and see week after week.

If your team needs help getting back in motion, try Ninety and discover how using EOS and OKRs together can drive real, weekly progress.