2022 is off and on it's way! The holiday's are behind us and it was -40 degrees this week in Minnesota (Mexico here I come!) How is your year going so far? Are your plans on track?
You had set a great plan in place for what your team is going to accomplish in 2022. However, it's easy to get caught up in the daily activities. Working through issue after issue or sometimes putting out fire after fire. So the question is, how are your plans coming along for the quarter and year?
It seems to be too common that businesses spend the time needed to align on a plan for the year…..then don't follow through or execute on that plan...
What can you do to avoid this for your business?
1. One Owner
What happens when more than one person is accountable? NO ONE is accountable! This is why it's critical to have a single person own part of your plan/goals/commitments. Assigning (and agreeing) on one owner helps with many things, including clarity.
Having someone clearly identified as the owner not only allows others to know who is accountable, it also gives the person assigned ownership to get the results the company is looking for. Of course, this needs to be done within the values and way of the company and this can be powerful to the ONE assigned! It also directly ties the work they do with the bigger picture of the company.
2. Execution Plan
Have you ever left a planning session assigned to a goal and not known what you need to focus on to get the desired results? Having an execution plan documented and followed will help you and your team know that you have an action plan to make this goal happen.
This plan should include:
The Goal
The Owner's Name
The Goal's Due Date
The Action Steps that need to take place with the due date and who's responsible
3. Monitoring
Everyone is wired differently. Some can commit to taking ownership and will do whatever it takes (within reason) to get it done on time. Others have the best of intentions and need help holding themselves accountable. This is what makes regular check-ins so valuable.
Be sure you're meeting with your team on a regular cadence (highly recommend a weekly meeting) to stay connected. Make sure that you're reporting on each goal and letting everyone know if it is on-track or off-track. How do you really know if you're on-track? See #2 Execution Plan above. If you're completing each action item on-time, then you're on-track. If you are not checking the boxes, then you're off-track and it may be time to get help from your team.
Now What?
This is a very simple concept and it is often overlooked. Doing the right things at the right times over and over is what adds up to getting the results you want.
Go back and make sure all of your goals/priorities/objectives/commitments for the year and quarter have:
ONE individual assigned as owner
Execution Plan with key action items/dates
Weekly Monitoring to report on status
Reach out to scott@scottgullickson.com with any questions.
Best of luck executing on your 2022 plans!