Now is the Time to Plan for 2016!

“If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you.”
“Those who fail to plan, plan to fail.”

These old maxims still bear truth. Although it is fun to let life and business take you where it may, a smart business person will realize the power of a well-conceived plan for her business. And here’s the secret: A thoughtful business plan will provide you the freedom to make informed choices and take advantage of the right serendipitous events in the life of your business. In other words, a plan gives you to power to be creative in how you pursue your goals.

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November is the perfect time to gather together your leadership team to plan for 2016. The current year is almost over, so it’s time to turn your gaze toward the possibilities of the coming year. And, if you wait until January to do annual planning, you miss out on valuable time that could be spent executing to your plan. We recommend that small businesses use a simple form for annual planning. There are many templates available to you:   

1. Jim Horan’s One-Page Business Plan book and template are a great way to get started.  
2. You might also consider the business plan in the Gino Wickman’s book Traction and the Vision/Traction Organizer template.   
3. A third option is Verne Harnish’s One Page Strategic Plan.  
4. Or, you could download our Simple Strategic Plan on Brio Leadership’s website.  ​
   
   

Whatever template you use, you’ll include the following common elements:

• Your purpose or mission statement
• Your core values
• Your unique selling proposition
• Your ideal customers
• Your 10-year vision, expressed in terms of financial success and the impact you desire
• Your 3-year goals
• Your 1-year goals and objectives
  
  

If you haven’t already defined them, now is a great time to identify your purpose and your core values. Brio Leadership can facilitate interactive sessions with groups large and small to create a meaningful and impactful purpose statement and/or core values. These two documents are like a lighthouse to a ship – they help you navigate around hidden dangers and keep you on course. Companies that are contemplating a transition in ownership – as many companies founded by Baby Boomers are – particularly need to ensure their values and purpose are cast in stone. That way, the foundation elements of the company culture will survive a change in leadership.  

A wise business owner will also identify a 10-year vision for his company. This future state projection can include both hard numbers, such as revenues and profit margins, and the desired impact. The impact will ideally incorporate concepts from your purpose statement. For example, one of my client’s purpose statements is “Enriching human connections through innovative workplaces.” Their desired 10-year vision might be to

• Enrich human connections in X of their client companies and in their own company,
• Increase the number of industries that they serve from A to B and increase the products/services they provide from C to D,
• While achieving revenues of Y with a profit margin of Z.
  
  

Once the 10-year vision is cast, then the 3-year and 1-year goals and objectives become clear. Have your leadership group brainstorm how you will achieve the lofty 10-year goals and plot your course for what you need to accomplish in 3 years, then 1 year. Several of the templates for business plans mentioned above advise you to create “rocks” on an annual basis. Stephen R. Covey, in his book, First Things First, describes rocks as the 2-3 most important goals that you must prioritize and plan for above any other competing demands. Sean Covey, son of Stephen R. Covey, and co-author Chris McChesney describe rocks as “wildly important goals” or WIGs in their book, The Four Disciplines of Execution.  Sean Covey recommends choosing only one or two wildly important goals – more than that, and you risk diluting the attention of your teams. People get overwhelmed by more than a few priorities, so by distilling your dreams to only the very important goals, you increase the odds of achieving them. I’ve seen companies successfully achieve up to three wildly important goals in a year, so we can be a little forgiving with the number. Your three very important goals should be balanced in different areas of the company; for example, a financial goal of achieving 15% revenue growth, an operations goal  of installing a new ERP system and a people programs goal of creating a leadership development and coaching program for alsl leaders and potential leaders in the company. The three goals should be big and impactful enough to capture the passion of your employees. Once you have the three big goals or rocks, you identify the objectives that each department and each individual must achieve to advance the goals. This way, you cascade the goals and objectives down to the department and the employee level. Now, you’ve got your whole team marching in the same direction.

Several of my clients are planning their 2016 strategic planning sessions right now. When will you schedule your planning meeting? Remember, if you fail to plan, you plan to fail!

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Kristin Robertson, CEO of Brio Leadership, is dedicated to increasing the number of employees who are excited to go to work on Monday mornings.  Services include executive coaching, leadership development classes and company culture consulting.  Don’t forget to get a copy of Kristin Robertson’s new book, Your Company Culture Ecosystem, available on Amazon.