Making a Plan
Good leaders have a plan. Some leaders fly by the seat of their pants, making it up as they go along. That might work here and there, but it’s not a long-term strategy for success. Lack of planning creates stress in the leader and in his team. Worse, no plan also means little accountability and little development within those who are doing the work. A plan creates boundaries, increases accountability, reduces stress and gives everyone confidence in their assigned roles, resources and deadlines. When making a plan, consider these steps:
Write it down. Start your plan by writing down your goal. Spending time expressing what you are trying to achieve clearly and concisely will help you to focus on those planning items necessary to get there. Lack of a goal leads to mission drift. Dr. Gail Matthews of Dominican University of California found that simply writing down a goal increases your likelihood of achieving it by 42 percent. A goal should be SMART… Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound.
Divide into chunks. An ambitious goal can be overwhelming. Divide the work into incremental steps. This gives you a better idea of the time it will take to reach your goal, the resources necessary to complete it, and the time involved. Without incremental steps, many people just give up. If your goals is to be at a certain point in three years, what should you have accomplished in the first year? The first six months? Help yourself and help others know what steps they should be taking day to day.
Check your timing. A goal without a timeline is difficult. Everything becomes urgent, or everything can wait. A timeline for accomplishing the tasks related to a goal keeps everyone on track. What do you have to complete today, tomorrow, next month, in six months? Set a reminder on your smartphone or watch to check your timeline regularly. Make a note of where you are ahead or behind.
Review and adjust. A blueprint is no good if you build a building without looking at it. Constantly refer back to the plan. Encourage others on your team to look at the plan as well. Remind yourself regularly of what you want to accomplish and why. Keep tasks in context—how is this specific detail helping us accomplish our goal. If the plan isn’t working, adjust it. Don’t abandon the plan if the work takes a turn. Step back and make sure you’ll still arrive at your desired destination.