The following post is courtesy of Diane Harrison who is principal and owner of Panegyric Marketing, a strategic marketing communications firm founded in 2002 specializing in alternative assets.
As 2022 comes to an end, it’s natural to reflect back on the current year and take inventory of what went well, what went wrong, and more importantly, what never happened. People tend to begin a new year with great hopes and expectations of how we will hone our skills, improve our professional and personal lives, and generally do better than we did in the year just passed.
Sadly, the vast majority of us fail to achieve most of the good intentions we set out, and another years rolls by. As 2023 approaches, here are a few suggestions for making a better plan to fulfill our hopes for a productive year.
1. CLEAR THE CLUTTER
What’s holding you back in your business? It’s time to finally identify the stumbling blocks and remove them. There are tons of self-help guides and gizmos to propel you into this critical first step. Barbara Hemphill, author of Less Clutter, More Life, summarizes the need to clear clutter neatly in an interview on fastcompany.com last March:
‘While the physical stuff is obvious, most of our clutter is invisible. There are four types of clutter: paper, digital, emotional, and spiritual. Physical and digital clutter are symptoms of emotional and spiritual clutter.
At its core, Hemphill says clutter is delayed decisions. “Left unaddressed, clutter presents risks, including the unnecessary expense of storing it, time wasted looking for something, and, most importantly, preventing you from living your purpose.’
2. MAKE A PLAN
What haven’t you been able to accomplish? Write down the categories and start to outline a strategy to success for each. Domont Consulting (previously known as Slidebooks Consulting) lays out a groundwork template that makes this step actionable. While some of their tips may be too granular, the basic 4 steps are a solid framework to consider for most people’s wishes.
Set up your strategic planning project: (1) Strategic planning team, (2) Guiding principles, (3) Strategic plan structure, (4) Strategic plan key inputs, (5) Strategic planning project plan.
Gather and analyze data and provide key insights: (1) Market analysis, (2) Competitor analysis, (3) Customer feedback, (4) Company data analytics team, (5) Employee feedback, (6) Executive feedback, (7) SWOT summary of the key business insights.
Define your strategic plan: (1) Mission, vision and values, (2) Strategy map including the strategic objectives to reach a vision, (3) Balanced scorecard including the key performance indicators linked to the strategic objectives, (4) List of potential initiatives to reach strategic objectives, (5) Business cases and financial models to help prioritize the list of potential projects, (6) Project prioritization, (7) Business roadmap including prioritized projects.
Implement, Track and Manage Progress: (1) Governance, (2) Dashboards, (3) Projects plans, (4) Project implementation: Agile, Design thinking and Traditional methodologies, (5) Quarterly update of the strategic plan based on new data, (6) Post projects evaluation and lessons learned, (7) Post strategic planning evaluation and lessons learned.
3. PRIORITIZE THE PLANS
The framework above captures the sequence of this step, but it bears repeating here for emphasis, as this is where most people get sidetracked and ultimately fall off-course. As you consider your goals, determine what’s an A? What’s a B? And what’s a C? Work on them accordingly to maximize meeting the important goals.
4. INVEST IN YOUR OWN SUCCESS
Make your 2023 resolutions to moving your business forward a reality rather than a new year’s lip service wish. Maybe the changes you’ve decided to make require more time, more funds, and more sacrifices elsewhere in order to achieve them in the new year. With a reminder of your priority planning, you can keep the focus on investing what you need to make these changes routine and central to your operating practices. Best wishes for a successful and prosperous New Year’s!
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