You stand up to present to your entire company. Together all of you moved through the challenges of the last year. After the polite applause died down, you press the forward button on your remote control. No one except you know for sure whether the ambitious goals that you and your senior team together came up with were achieved. Instead of showing financial numbers and progress against your goals, you show them a picture of the strip in Las Vegas. Cheering erupts in the room as everyone realizes that the each of them and their spouses are going to Las Vegas for three days to celebrate achieving those very goals you put in front of them a year ago.
I believe that if you really want to grow a company, you have to spend a lot of time planning exactly where you want to go. You need to write down measurable goals for the critical one-year direction you need to take the company. If you set ambitious goals for the year, give people amazing rewards when they achieve them. Flying all of your staff and their spouses to Las Vegas for three days is a big investment. One that is well worth making for the right goals.
It takes time to plan. The following are the minimum amount of time I believe you need to be investing in your strategic planning:
- Yearly: Two days off site.
- Quarterly: One day off site.
- Monthly: A half day reviewing progress and strategy towards your quarterly plan.
- Weekly: The senior team spends 1-2 hours sharing their wins and getting crystal clear on Who, What, and When.
- Daily: A 10-15 minute stand up.
Yearly
There are only four key drivers of every business. They are strategy, execution, people, and cash. You can only make a significant difference to one of these in a year. At your annual planning pick which one is the one area that must move forward in the year. Decide on the three measurable goals you will achieve this for the year. Chose the top KPI you will measure and improve. Decide on the #1 thing you will stop doing. Pick a big celebration and reward that the whole company will take part in if you achieve your goals.
Quarterly
Choose three measurable goals for the quarter that move you significantly towards your three goals for the year. Decide on who is accountable for each measure. Make sure that everyone is clear on Who, What, and When for the quarter so that you can achieve your top three goals.
Weekly
When your team gets together start with the wins—those things that have been successful in the previous week. This sets the tone for the planning session. Learn more about why it wins work here. Debate the issues at hand—weekly meetings are not for show and tell. Be absolutely clear on exactly Who, What, and When for the next week. Before everyone leaves the weekly meeting, get everyone to share their #1 take away from the meeting. You will be surprised how different people heard different priorities for the week.
Daily
Start with a short set of wins. Then make sure that everyone is aligned with what needs to happen today.
Magic
Magic happens when you dedicate yearly and quarterly planning and goal setting to your company. Tremendous energy is wasted when everyone goes off in all directions. Especially you. Having a written set of yearly and quarterly goals, along with a significant celebration keeps everyone moving towards the same goal.
Do you want help in creating the magic of yearly and quarterly off site planning meetings? It is one of the services I offer.
Plan your future today.
