Strategic Planning - Be Organized

Many business leaders feel like they come close to drowning every day in a never-ending flood of emails, paperwork, meetings, and last-minute demands. Just trying to keep up with it all keeps them from the projects they’re supposed to be leading to move their companies forward.

It would be beneficial to change your tactics and adopt an organized approach. You will find yourself not only getting more things done but getting the right things done. "Being organized” is just another way of saying you’re on top of everything, which determines much of your success—from big issues like forecasting company growth and executing company initiatives to small tasks like calling someone who can help you get the big jobs done.

1. SMART GOAL SETTING
Most people in business have goals, but not everyone sets them effectively. Goals are mostly vague and poorly defined, with no sense of why they matter or how to measure them to determine success. The worst mistake is just having too many goals. Three is the perfect number. Fewer than that lacks challenge, and more than that is little more than a “to do” list.

Be sure to give each goal a series of actionable items—we call them “lead measures” because they lead to the ultimate goal. These are the actions you take daily and make yourself and staff accountable for.

2. STRATEGIC PLANNING
Every company needs a strategic plan—a vision that declares where they want to be in one year, three years, five years, and beyond. It is recommended to have a one-year and a three-year plan. If it’s over one year, it goes on the three-year list and we do it all over again.

The plan should include the goals (and lead measures) that support the strategic plan and make it happen. Do both goal setting and strategic planning each year, spending weeks with our entire staff and figuring out what needs to be delegated and to whom. Success is predicated on the distribution/deliveries being successful. Without clear direction, training, owner manuals, ongoing support, and other organizational tools, it doesn’t happen.

3. DELEGATING ADVERTISEMENT
Hire people who excel at it to help keep me on track. If you’re more of a big-picture thinker, this is essential. But even if you’re good at keeping up with the details, you still need to delegate some of the work to others. First, you simply can’t do everything, no matter how hard you try. Also, there may be others on your team who are better at certain projects than you are. They deserve a chance to show leadership, and the company will probably benefit when you utilize them.

4. TAKING ACTION
It’s possible to be too organized; some people spend all their time planning and outlining every little thing when they should go out and do it. This is a sign of fear, or at least uncertainty. The more you plan because you “just want everything to be perfect,” the longer you can delay putting yourself and your work out front for everyone to see—and judge.

Clear the clutter. Get everything off your desk except the project you’re working on now; piles of paperwork are a nagging reminder of everything you have to do. Focus on one thing at a time, and don’t keep everything else where it’s a constant distraction.