90 Day Planning Workshop

Plan and Achieve - every 90 days

When we hear the saying “never look back unless you’re planning on going there” we agree with it completely. Why visit old ground, over and over again if it’s not getting you anywhere? Although our thoughts agree with the logic, a part of us can’t resist remembering how it used it be - back in the day, and it's true to say that a lot has changed since then - every sector in society has been redeveloped or redefined from education and healthcare to housing and construction. We are now living in a world of constant change. For a business to remain competitive today, decisions need to be made according to what has happened in more recent times like, last year, last month and even last week. The speed of communication is rapid and consumers are used to demanding instant responses due to the spread of social media and technological advances. Building a business into a viable organisation big or small does require a return, but not a return back in time, but a return to learning updated principles of management.

In order to achieve anything of real substance in our personal lives we require to set a goal. In previous papers for One Week At A Time we talked about how writing down goals will ensure that actually have a good chance of working on them. The same applies to business management. Planning ahead using definable goals will shape behaviours, show consequences and influence future decisions (Blanchard & Johnson 2015, pp 83-85).

For the most part, when people are faced with an overwhelmingly large undertaking a common response is to look for the first exit and try and make a run for it. Taking a large vision for a business for example, doubling the profit margin of a business within 6 months, then breaking that down into small activities that will create that change is more palatable and easier for teams to feel they can actually achieve that goal. Success is the sum of small efforts repeated day in and day out and if we make the effort, we will get better (if we don’t, then we won’t) (Goldsmith and Reiter 2015, p139). This thinking comes to the fore when a business develops a 90 Day Plan.

Plan to make small but significant changes

A short term plans help develop commitment within in the business because the goals and activities are relevant, rooted in the ‘now’, and small enough in size that the team can tackle them. Start planning with where the business needs to go in the next 6 months, year and two years, giving a timeframe and deadline to work within. The first actionable plan however is one which focusses on the activities which have a deadline of the preceding 90 days only. This is essentially how 90 day planning works.

Following is a list of what every successful plan includes to ensure a business is on the path to achievement (Tracy 2003, p150):

• Develop a clear vision & purpose
• Write down your goals, defined into top areas of the business
• Prioritise each goal and set a completion date
• Identify key obstacles or difficulties for each goal and organise them as well
• Identify the skills and knowledge that is required to achieve each goal
• Identify which person, group or association will help achieve the goal or goals.

For Business Leaders a personal plan can be incorporated in parallel to include the type of life that that person aims for, including holidays, personal pursuits and other personal goals such as retirement.

Celebrate the battles won

The greatest time to go back in time and reminisce is to celebrate the small battles that your business and team have won in the previous 90 days past. Send the message that the sum of all parts do make the whole and without the people working in a team together those achievements couldn’t have happened. Make the change in the business from could’ve-would’ve-should’ve into…. We-are-doing-it-bigger-and-better. Now. And that’s the true value of 90 Day Planning.

90 Day Planning Template

Please contact Action Centre BusinessCoach, Brett Burden on telephone 1300 971 763 or email brettburden@theactioncentre.com.au to request more information on starting your own 90 Day plan.

References

Blanchard, K., Johnson S., (2015) The New One Minute Manager Meets the Monkey. HarperCollins USA.

Goldsmith M., Reiter M., (2015) Triggers. Crown Business. New York, USA.

Tracy B.(2003) Goals! Berrett-Kohler Publishers, Inc. San Francisco, USA.