“Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat”
-Sun Tzu
What is the purpose of putting time aside to plan for the year ahead?
When I first started this thing I wasn’t sure why anyone would want to participate in a 4 hour strategy session. I quickly realised there were a lot of business owners, leaders and managers who operate like an island, and rarely if ever let anyone in. Even less then reflect on the year that was and plan for the year ahead.
1. What are the top 3 lessons you have learnt in 2022?
Every business faces challenges, what are yours? To what degree does your team have an awareness of those challenges?
The lessons learnt process is acknowledging there are always opportunities to improve. One way to facilitate a positive experience in identifying and addressing them is by conducting a team reflection activity where you highlight the following:
- What are the things we should celebrate (milestones, events, achievements)
- What are the things we should maintain (Continue because they were effective)
- What are the things we should monitor/cease (areas of improvement, behaviour/activity to cease)
There is power in reflection, you could run the above activity online or in person with the team. You might be surprised how engaging it is for folks who normally expect you to simply send a boring email at the end of the year like you did the last 10 years.
2. Does your team have an awareness of the priorities for 2023/2024?
How important is it that your leadership team ‘get it’? Do you want them to have a shared understanding and commitment to your business goals?
Cascading something like your business priorities/goals is less about the lame email you send that says ‘this is the go for next year!’ And everything about the multi facetted approach you take to embedding the priorities and making them meaningful for the team.
What do I mean by ‘Meaningful’?
No one cares about the goal your accountant suggested for you to increase revenue by 20% over the next two years! Well you do, and hopefully your leadership team do! But…Everyone cares about a values based WHY.
Example: In a business that offers an ultimate experience for the stressed out mum who gets 1 opportunity every 3 months to come to your salon… Your employees care about that… In a business that provides mental health services to single fathers including a coffee and brekky wrap as part of the service (and other value adds), your employees care about that…In a business that delivers trade services that focus on quality over quantity, your employees care about it…
So…
Build an awareness of the priorities for your business, make it meaningful for the team, do it in 2022 and create expectation. Light some fires in some bellys before the year is out.
3. Does your structure fit your strategy
If your strategy includes a goal to grow from 3 locations to 10 in the next 12 months, be prepared to implement a phased structural change that will support your goal. The first question we get is ‘But why would I recruit to positions I don’t need yet’. This is a fair question and it should be noted that one of the most common issues we find with our clients is they have under cooked their structure ie: haven’t got a staff base to deliver on what they promised. There ensures a mad dash to recruit and onboard, which is risky for a small business.
Three things you could do before 2023:
- Scenario based planning (develop 3 scenarios you are likely to see over the next 24 months and draw a structure to fit)
- Identify the intervals you would be willing to review your structure
- Implementing hierarchical levels (ie new supervisor/management roles) requires a deeper level of consideration. If this is you, just call me so we can discuss!
4. What will you do to invest in and develop your workforce
This even applies to the sole traders! What are the plans for next year with regard to professional/practice/trade development? On the job training and mentoring is an excellent way to ‘sow’ into the team, there is more you should do though.
Consider the three groups that you might identify to invest in:
- Senior Management Team (including you as a director/leader and your business partners)
- Frontline Managers, Supervisors (including emerging leaders and those with a desire or ability to step up)
- Team (every team member should have some level of development identified in their performance plan/success goals)
Initiatives you might consider for your business as a collective:
- Behavioural profiling
- Goal orientated peer/buddy catch ups
- Team Retreat/Conference per calendar year
- Management Capability Development Programs (if interested, contact us, I guarantee we do this better than most)
5. What is the ‘one thing’?
Think about the following ‘one things’ that should be known in your business:
- One thing every staff member should know
- One thing we should get right, every time without fail
- One thing we will do differently than our competitors
- One thing we will do differently in the future
- One thing every staff member should aim for
- One thing we are ready for
- One thing we are unsure about
Thanks for reading! I am confident if you have made it to the end of this article that you have success ahead! I believe in what you are doing and whether you choose to work with BE FOUND or not, you are someone I would love to hear from. Maybe you have a comment or challenge to the above, reach out!
” A business, successful or not, is merely a reflection of the character of its leadership”
S. Truett Cathy
Join the workshop
BE FOUND delivers workshops for business owners, leaders and managers that provide an opportunity to reflect on the year that was and plan for what is ahead. If you once had a dream for your business, but you have found that fire no longer burns, contact us now! Spaces left for 2022 in preparation for 2023.