My calendar says it’s not quite the middle of October. Certainly there is “plenty” of time to prepare for 2010? Well. I don’t think so!
The holidays are a terrible time to plan. People are focused on things that are more immediate, more fun and more seductive than planning next year’s budget. Never do your annual review or planning during the company party!
This is the time to buy and ponder next year’s calendar. Now is the time to prepare, and personally, I use three kinds of calendars. First, we buy the large plastic “year-at-a-glance” wall calendars, usually two for each office plus one for the lunch room.
Second, I spend time with my colleagues reviewing the current year. What worked? What didn’t work? What activities need to be eliminated or re-organized next year? What was profitable? What wasn’t? We use this year’s calendar and financial statements, along with our personal opinions and insights to understand the best and worst things we did this year.
Then, we write a plan for the new year. What will we do more of? What will we start or explore or consider? What do we need in terms of resources—new people, a bigger budget, improved skills, up-dated software, new equipment?
Finally, usually on a Saturday when I’m here by myself, I go back to those plastic wall calendars. I start by marking birthdays, anniversaries, holidays and other celebrations in bright red. These are important! They build morale, they keep us motivated. Then, I use a green marker to note vacations, seminars, speaking engagements and other times when key people will be out of the office. The red and green colors are eye-catching and they affirm that our people come first! It works.
The last color is blue for key deadlines, targets and projects, taken from o ur planning document. The idea is that a glance at the calendar tells each of us what’s going on, where we’re headed, and who’s having a birthday next week.
You may have a different system, but as a business leader, now is the time to put your system to work. Now is the time to build success in 2010.
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