Don’t let your plan get lonely!!
This is your roadmap to success – one to keep your eye on every step of the way.
Quarterly – Monthly – Weekly
These reviews are key. Mark your calendar throughout 2020 with dates on which you will conduct your reviews and plan updates.
Quarterly:
In reviewing your annual plan, decide what objectives you or your team will strive for in the upcoming quarter. Creating these from your annual plan will help ensure you stay focused on and committed to your overall goals for the year. Keep these objectives as your primary focus for the quarter and develop an action plan for achieving these objectives.
I use the same categories for my quarterly plan as I do with my business plan.
- Products/services
- Operations
- Marketing
- Professional Development (which is “management” tailored to me)
- Finances
Select a maximum of one objective from each category. In some quarters, you may be focused heavily in one area and have no objectives another.
Forget about the rest – for now. Nobody needs the pressure of an entire annual plan hanging over us in the short term!
Monthly:
At the start of each month, review your quarterly plan and decide where your focus needs to be for the upcoming month. Follow the same format as the quarterly review but narrow the tasks down more.
Weekly:
At the start of every workweek, make sure you have already prepared your plan for the week. Get as specific as possible here with tasks broken down to their smallest next actions.
Bonus – Daily:
From your weekly plan, go into each day with a plan for what you will accomplish in the next several hours.
Review questions to consider:
Especially for your quarterly and monthly reviews (and, where appropriate for the others), consider the following:
- Have the identified action steps been taken and in a timely manner?
- If no, why not?
- What “out-of-the-blue” opportunities arose?
- What roadblocks have been encountered in the implementation?
- How are stakeholders (you, clients, employees) reacting to the changes?
- What new inspirations have come to you?
Book Recommendation:
Write it Down, Make it Happen: Knowing What You Want and Getting it by Henriette Anne Klauser is a must read for understanding the power of writing down your goals and dreams.
Onward to an amazing 2020!!