Loughborough

# 10 – 2nd January 2008

Bring your resolutions to life.
It is appropriate at this time of year to think about how we can all make best use of all those good intentions that we call “New Year Resolutions”. I am sure, that like me, all InLoughborough readers will have spent some of the holiday period planning how they can improve their business in 2008. The big problem is that many of us fail to put our plans into Action. Not only that, but we do not write our plans down so that we can be sure about our intentions and then share them with others. The key to making your resolutions a reality is to turn them into plans (with dates and outcomes) and then to Act on those plans.

Plan, Prepare, Take Action
Many businesses suffer from an inability to prioritise their plans and then to put those plans into Action. Businesses tend to one of two extremes:

• Too much thinking and no action;
• They spend so much time deliberating, analysing and planning that by the time they take any action, the opportunity has passed.
• No thinking and loads of action – on the wrong things.
• They are so busy working on “stuff” that they never work out what is the “right stuff”.

Make a Plan
Spend an appropriate amount of time planning. There is no hard and fast rule on how long is appropriate. It very much depends on the situation. If you are standing in the path of a 40 Tonne lorry, there is not a great deal of point spending more than a second deciding which way to run. If you have a developing business problem, then it may pay you to spend some serious time gathering data, building a decision base and creating a solid plan. This is a balancing act – you have to spend enough time exploring options to ensure that your plan is the best one for the situation.

Think about things that are vital for the success of your plan:

• Enough people;
• Enough money – do you need to speak to the bank – best to have the conversation before you start – their different perspective may lead to a better solution;
• Enough space;
• Anything else that you use red pen to circle on your plan.

Prepare to Act
Get your people and other resources lined up. Get buy-in from everybody who was not involved in the planning (did you speak to the bank?). Define objectives. Mobilise people and machines.

 

 

 

Act
Get on with it. Unchain the keys to the future you planned for.
Manage the team and your own delegation effectively so that you are getting the most out of everybody. Make sure that people learn from new experiences.

Review
Review regularly to make sure that everything is still on track. As long as you avoid unnecessary delay, refine your plan as you go. Especially if it seems that there is an option to improve the outcome.

 

Paul Fileman MIET CEng MCIM
Chartered Marketer
paul.fileman@talktosps.com
Tel:  01509 854447
Mob: 07969 188820
www.talktosps.com