We all know that creating the strategic plan is only the beginning. You have to implement the plan and you are convinced it will be no easy task. How can you keep yourself and the team focused on the goals you agreed will make the difference? How can you make sure the routines and crises of your regular business don’t wash away your resolve to move ahead? This is an ever-present challenge for every team leader, so we have been observing the behavior of one of our clients – a team which, in their second year of a Best Year Yet plan, has exhibited a higher-than-usual level of focus and therefore success with their plan. What exactly is their leader doing to make sure they all “keep their eye on the plan?”
Make sure the plan represents the team’s true priorities.
Too often, an annual plan is treated as “a list of the things we want to do if we get a chance when the regular work is done.” Such a plan is doomed to end up on the shelf. To avoid this fate, our client made it clear to his team that this is the only plan they will be working, so the true priorities had better be on it. This understanding didn’t come quickly or easily, and the plan was revised several times in the first year, as the team’s understanding grew.
Make the plan a living, working document, always in sight and always being discussed.
The annual plan was hand-written on a laminated poster and hung on the wall for all to see. When the goals changed, so did the poster. The team leader made the plan the only agenda for his weekly team meetings: what progress has been made this week? What are the obstacles? How are you handling them? What will you do next week?
Choose carefully the milestones to be tracked and measured.
“What gets measured is what gets done.” The team examined the measurements they were already tracking and discontinued those that were not related to the plan. They added measurement tools to track the progress toward their goals – closed sales, customer service issues, revenue targets, product upgrades, new installations – and posted them in plain sight throughout the offices.
Meet monthly, no matter what, and hold team members accountable for specific progress.
The team leader sends a clear message when the monthly plan review meetings are mandatory and take precedence over everything else on the schedule. Client appointments, sales calls, doctor visits, even vacation days are scheduled around the team’s monthly meetings. During the meetings, team members celebrate each other’s successes and strategize together about ways to overcome obstacles, but no one is allowed to be vague about where things stand.
Set the example through your own talk and actions.
The team leader disciplines himself to stay focused on his own accountabilities in the plan and to talk about his own struggles to continually prioritize his work. He is fully present at every meeting and reports honestly when he has not done what he committed to.
There are many ways a team leader can unintentionally send the message to his/her team that “moving forward on this plan is less important than…” whatever the crisis of the day is. Is it easy to avoid that pitfall? Of course not! But by sticking to the steps listed above, our client and his team have shifted significantly the culture of the company and have achieved dramatic revenue targets that seemed beyond reach one year ago.
BEST YEAR YET will help you close the gap between planning and performance! You can be focused, aligned, and producing results, year after year! For information on personal, team and organizational Best Year Yet Programs, email Donna.King@bestyearyet.com
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