How We Teach the Tools
When we start the EOS journey, we teach using printed and PDF copies of the tools. Why? Because it keeps things simple. Software can be distracting in the early days—the last thing you need is to wrestle with buttons and menus when you’re trying to grasp the fundamentals of running your business on EOS.
Moving On From Paper
But paper only takes you so far.
Once you have multiple team members engaging with the tools—especially outside the leadership team—you need a single source of truth that everyone can access in real time. That’s where digital tools become essential. Paper simply can’t keep up.
Going Digital With EOS
There’s a range of options, depending on your budget and tech stack:
- Spreadsheets (Google Sheets / Excel)
You can build your V/TO™, Issues List, Rock Sheet, Scorecard—and even your Accountability Chart—using spreadsheets.
Pros: Free, easy to share, and quick to get started.
Cons: Clunky, no automation, and often hard to scale or maintain consistency. - General Project Management Tools (Asana, Smartsheet, Monday.com)
Some businesses adapt their existing tools. At ATEC (my legacy business), we used Smartsheet for years before moving to dedicated EOS software.
Pros: Usually free if you already have it; more flexibility and polish than spreadsheets.
Cons: Not built for EOS, so you’ll need to invest time in customisation—and it’s easy to drift away from the pure EOS process. - Dedicated EOS Software
There are now several software platforms designed specifically to support companies running on EOS. (I know of five; happy to share my preferences if you’re curious.)
Pros:
- Efficiency: Streamlines meetings. In Level 10s, you can raise issues directly from your Rocks or Scorecard with a click. No more waiting for someone to update the doc or find the right tab.
- Consistency: As EOS rolls out beyond the senior leadership team, everyone works from the same system, using the same process.
- Purity: Purpose-built for EOS, so it keeps you aligned and reduces the temptation to modify or “improve” the system.
- Accountability Chart: Easy to build, update, and share.
The only real downside?
Cost. Most tools charge around £10 per user per month, though the price per head usually drops with larger teams.
So When Should You Go Digital?
Immediately.
Paper works for the Focus Day—but after that, it quickly becomes unmanageable. Most teams start with spreadsheets, then later upgrade to dedicated EOS software—and almost always say, “We should have done this from the start.”
My recommendation? Save yourself the friction. Explore one or two EOS-specific software options right after your Focus Day. It will make your implementation smoother, faster, and more consistent—giving you a much better shot at embedding EOS deeply into your business from the get-go.