If your strategic plan follows the calendar year, you’re getting towards the end of Q1. That means it’s time for a check-in.
We know that first quarter can go by in a flash, and we hear a lot from our customers that as soon as they feel like they’ve got their head wrapped around their strategic goals it’s already time to assess their progress. And they don’t feel ready!
Does that sound familiar?
Do you think that will be you at the end of Q2 when half the year has gone by?
A year always sounds like a long time when you’re planning for it ahead of time. But once it’s here you can get caught by surprise. That’s why it’s so crucial to apply routine to your Q1 goals. What do we mean by that?
- When your strategic plan has a clear breakdown of goals and milestones with check-in dates and mid-quarter measures built in from the beginning, it’s easier to achieve what you set out to do.
- Like a new exercise regimen, routines can be difficult in the beginning, but with time they start to feel like a given. What routines can you build in so that you’re not scrambling when it’s time to check in?
- Inherent to routine is measurement, whether that’s time or production level or earnings or sales. And we all know how important it is to make goals that are measurable as part of a SMART approach.
Routines can look like team check-ins, one hour a week set aside for updates, biweekly reporting—you name it. No company is going to look the same, but routine never hurt anybody. In fact, it might just be the thing that makes the difference in your strategy’s success.
