Planning for Next Year Starts Now

Putting your company on a winning trajectory for 2017 begins with careful thought and foresight in the final months of this year. The holidays are an opportunity to reflect on your business–first on the big picture, and then on its component parts. The new year represents a fresh chance to double down on what you do well and identify areas ripe for improvement. But in order to get there, you need a plan. Keep these points in mind as you set your course.

Building a strategic plan takes time and requires input from staff at all levels. Begin reaching out to your team now to find out what they’re thinking. Pay special attention to the responses of those working closely on problem areas–after all, the best solutions often come from those with the most intimate knowledge of a given issue.

We’re all familiar with generic catch-all goals that all too often end up as official company policy. Loose objectives like, “Leverage existing relationships to drive new business,” or “Foster cross-team communication.” It’s not that these kinds of broad targets aren’t worth striving towards, it’s that they encompass so much that they lose any real, specific meaning. In short, they’re the easy way out.

Setting clear goals for your company requires detailed input from all levels of management, to find out what’s working, what’s not, and why. Consider objectives you hope to achieve within various timeframes and at various levels of your organization–within teams, across teams, and company-wide–and tailor specialized plans of approach to tackle each challenge.

Don’t let those goals go by the wayside a few months into the new year. Ensure that everyone stays on target by building structure into your plan. Be as clear as possible in defining how success will be measured, and schedule monthly check-in meetings to track progress. With clear expectations and a commitment to follow-through, you’ll be checking off boxes in your 2017 goal sheet in no time.