It’s almost the end of February traditionally a time when we look back on our goals for the year and realise we haven’t made as much progress as we’d planned. January started with excitement and promise as goals, strategies and plans for the year were set in place. February disappeared in a rush of business as usual and now those goals are looking a lot harder to achieve. So now what?
Here’s 5 tips to help you get back on track and achieve your 2011 goals.
1. Reaffirm your Vision. Your vision should provide a powerful picture of what your business will look like in the future. It should clarify the direction the business will take and act as a ‘yardstick’ against which objectives, strategies and plans can be assessed. Above all else it should provide a powerful motivation for taking action and striving towards your goals. If you haven’t already done so review your vision statement, make sure it is written in powerful, motivational language. Print it out and put it somewhere you will see it every day. Think about how you’re communicating the vision to others in your business. Do they understand the vision, does it resonate with them, are they motivated by it?
2. Update your plan. Review your goals, are they still the right goals for this year? Are they written as SMART goals and can you really measure them? Assess the gap between where you are today and where you want to be. What strategies are you going to use to close the gap? Review your SWOT analysis and pay particular attention to recent changes in your business environment. Also critically assess what’s stopped you making progress to date – do you need to change your plan to overcome these roadblocks? Have you communicated the plan, does everyone in the organisation understand their role in executing the plan?
3. Just Do It. Successful execution happens when you prioritise your strategic activities ahead of the day-to-day crisis and act on your plan every day. Create an environment that supports and encourages acting on the plan. Remember persistence is the key to long term success.
4. Track your progress. Regularly track progress towards your goals and review what’s working and what’s not working. Learn from your failures and review your plan as you go along.
5. Celebrate every success no matter how small.
Vision. Execution. Results
Joan Dobbie is the Owner and Principal Consultant at Beyond Strategy Consulting where she focuses on delivering valuable strategic planning, strategy execution and capability development services that enable small to medium enterprises to achieve their vision.
