The old adage is true. As we knock on the door of Q4, now is the perfect time to put on your assessment hat as your biz and/or team enter that critical countdown to the end of another calendar year and the beginning of a new one. Today’s podcast will give you three steps to consider as the clock is ticking on 2014.
Episode Notes
Step One: Checkpoint – Where are we?
For individual team supervisors or leaders, this step is where it begins. What were those 3-5 goals or metrics you set out to accomplish in January of this year? In simple terms, how close are you to successfully achieving those? Are you 50% there? Or even 75%? This is your starting point. This exercise will help you make any critical changes over the next 12 weeks. Without this process, you and/or team will continue showing up every day and perhaps do good work, but those efforts may not be focused in the right place.
Step Two: Edit your Playbook as needed
Now that you have the necessary perspective to your overall progress, step two allows you to make the necessary changes to your playbook or game plan. This is an “easier said than done” step, but to hit your goals, the mental effort and energy are essential for any success.
Depending on your role, this exercise may be done solely by you or it may involve others on your team. Where team activity is involved do your best to involve the group on this task.
Step Three: Communicate, Execute and Monitor
As priorities and assignments shift, don’t assume everyone knows what is going on – even if you happen to involve them in the planning. The greatest illusion in communication is that it has taken place. Once your Plan B is ready, find several ways to communicate it to your team and any others who need it. Communicate to the team as a whole. Let them see the big picture in changes made. Then spend a few minutes one on one with each member of the team to ensure they understand the changes. Finally, ensure your peers and supervisor are on board. It’s that extra step of clarity to remove any assumptions that so easily creep in to organizations.
The pause, reflect, action moments you take now will allow you to ready your team for two things: you will finish 2014 well so you can begin 2015 strong. The clock is ticking. Your team is ready for that Q4 plan.