You may have heard the old saying that “What gets measured gets done.” It actually comes from an even older philosophy of “If you can measure it, you can manage it.” Regardless of origin, the fundamental message to understand is you’ll be better able to direct your organization if you document its goals, how to achieve them, and the timeline to accomplish. In other words … a plan.
Whether it’s a fortune 500 with operations and assets throughout the world, or couple of kids with a lemonade stand at the end of their driveway, all successful organizations start with plan for what they’re looking to achieve, the requirements needed, and the targets that will indicate progress (i.e. timelines, earnings, market share, etc.).
Plan the Work … Work the Plan
It’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day tasks that often pull you away from the bigger, more important work needed to ensure long-term growth/success. Without a succinct plan that you and your team reference daily and execute on it will be easy to fall into the trap of struggling to make traction and see tangible progress.
Communication is key. Do all of the stakeholders understand their roles/responsibilities? Are all of the resources in place that are needed? Are the right tasks being done in the right sequence for effectiveness and efficiency? Ask these questions of yourself and your trusted team members regularly and collaborate on resolutions if the responses aren’t satisfactory.
Be Transparent … Share Your Plan
Once you’ve got your plan in place, be sure to share it with key members of the organization. Understanding the strategy and priorities among everything impacting the plan will go a long way to increasing the likelihood of being successful.
Buy in is critical! If team members aren’t understanding or simply disagree with the process/direction it will be more challenging to execute on the plan. Have regular communications with everyone and make sure you have alignment. If you don’t, encourage those with issues to be candid with their concerns and be open to engage in ways to resolve them. Doing so doesn’t guarantee alignment, but it does create greater perspective on the approach to achieving goals. It also builds trust among team members who know their perspectives are being heard.
Want to dig deeper on planning for your team, your organization, your self? Click here to schedule a free consultation.
Blog Details
