01 Sep Q: Why should I implement 90-day planning within my company?
A 90-day plan will help you identify the steps you need to take and the habits you need to build over a targeted space of time. Whether you’re a profitable mid-cap company or a start-up business, the 90-day plan is your ticket to focused success.
Why should you use a 90-day plan
365 days is a long time in the business world, with trends sometimes changing on a weekly basis. It is just not feasible to achieve your annual goals or visions for your company without breaking them down into smaller manageable chunks or tasks that include measurement and assessment strategies. A 90-day plan allows you and your team to focus your larger goals into quarterly achievements, and provides you with the tools for systemized measurement.
Keys to planning success
1. Set the date
Identify key members of your team and get a planning date on your calendar 2-3 weeks before the start of the new quarter. This will give you time to regroup after the planning session and communicate the plan to the rest of the company before the new quarter starts.
2. Find an offsite location
The growth of your company deserves your full attention without the day-to-day distractions. Take your team offsite so that you and the team can be completely focused on developing a winning plan for the quarter. Giving up a day for a planning session may seem like a lot to ask, but its time well spent.
3. Prepare before the session
When it comes to 90-day planning, you can’t just show up and hope for the best. Think through what you want to accomplish during your session and make sure you and your team complete any necessary pre-work to make the most out of the day. If you work with a Business Coach, your coach will be able to provide you with the tools you will need to have a successful planning session.
4. Document and cascade your plan
Select a member of your team to document your plan during the planning session so that it can be used as an accountability tool and so that is can be easily shared with the entire company.
5. Communicate the plan to the entire company
Your plan is not meant to be privileged information only shared with key members of your team. You want all hands on-deck. Communicate your plan company-wide so that everyone is engaged and understands the focus of the upcoming quarter.
6. Begin executing on your plan
That’s right, get started! Now that you have the entire team engaged, it’s time to start on the execution of your plan.
One final thought
As human beings, we have a natural proclivity for procrastination. Meet with your team each week to discuss any priorities that are in danger of not reaching your determined goals, and use this weekly adjustment meeting to generate solutions with the team to create action steps to get back on track.