August in Texas – heat, humidity and hurricanes. Trying desperately to sound happy for your friend who’s heading off to the mountains. Making difficult decisions: buy groceries or have green grass?
August also means that we are racing toward the end of another year. For most of 2020 we have been forced to take each day as it comes, and that doesn’t seem likely to change.
If you are waiting for the new normal, I’ve got news for you—there isn’t going to be one. But effective people never loll around waiting for a better day; they know that it is imperative to forge on.
The problem is that many business owners simply don’t know where to begin and what to do right now. In good times, success comes easy, but in deep water, you can drown if no one ever taught you to swim.
Like you, our clients have been affected in unimaginable ways during past months, but all have weathered the storm because they were prepared! We customized a decades-tested process for each unique need of our clients—swimming lessons, so to speak.
This invaluable process is yours as well. We’ve outlined the steps below. The future is yours if you get to work now!
- August – September: Develop a realistic 3- to 5-year Strategic Plan (or update your current one).
- October – November: From your Strategic Plan, create a 2021 Business Plan for the overall company.
- December: Generate specific, achievable Department Plans that are in alignment with the overall 2021 Business Plan.
- Jan 2021: Hold a kickoff meeting right after the New Year to present your Business Plan and Department Plans. Review your 2020 performance against last year’s Plan. Celebrate your successes; get everyone on board and build excitement for new ideas and objectives.
- By early January, schedule Quarterly Reviews for top management to keep everyone in the loop on progress and obtain feedback to make necessary changes.
- Communicate, communicate, communicate through Monthly Performance Reviews for each department. These can be brief (30-minutes), but they keep everyone focused, engaged, and productive.
In summary, set expectations, set accountability, follow up and follow through. Don’t wait another day to get started! A daunting task can be made easy by the experts. MasterThink can provide for a FREE assessment of your company’s challenges and solutions to prepare you for a successful 2021.