Stop - Start - Continue
Posted on November 23, 2015 by Nick Mariniello, One of Thousands of Business Coaches on Noomii.
Don't Over Think Your 2016 Success Plan
This is a tried and true, simple approach to kick starting your planning process.
The New Year is only six weeks away, yet many business owners and executives have not completed their business plan to achieve greater success in 2016. For some, the project gets put off because they perceive it to be such a complicated and daunting task. The so called “Paralysis by Analysis.” For those of you that may be in that camp or just haven’t been able to get around to it, I suggest you start by answering 3 Simple Questions:
1. What Should We Start Doing? 2. What Should We Stop Doing? 3. What Should We Continue Doing?By answering these 3 basic questions, you will quickly jump start your planning process.
What Should We Start Doing?
Replay in your head all of the conversations you had with your colleagues throughout the year. What ideas were exchanged and how many of them were in the context, “We should start…..” Perhaps it was a new marketing campaign or a new service to be added. Maybe you talked about implementing a referral program or customer appreciation events. Perhaps you said, “We should start training our staff to do ……….” Maybe you should start delegating certain tasks to free up time. Whatever it is that comes to mind, write it down.
What Should We Stop Doing?
Now apply the same method to conversations or thoughts you may have had that fit the sentence, “We should stop……” Maybe you spoke about dropping an unprofitable product, service, or group of clients. Perhaps you discussed stopping to advertise in a particular magazine or targeting a particular market. Did you think about discontinuing certain meetings that have become ineffective or unnecessary? Maybe you should stop allowing emails and other daily distractions from keeping you from performing higher value activities. Again, let your juices flow and write them down.
Lastly, What Should We Continue Doing?
What products or services that you are delivering are contributing great value to your clients and your company? What is “really working” and how can you do more of it? Pareto’s Law, aka the “80/20 Rule”, states that you get 80% of your success from 20% of your activities. Identify what makes up that 20% and continue doing it. In fact, figure out how to do more of it. Once again, write down your answers.
This exercise is simple, yet extremely effective and it can be applied to all areas of your company. Engage your staff members in the process. Have them do the same thing for their department, their team, and their personal effectiveness profile.
As with anything in life, you can’t get to “Next Steps” without taking the “First Step.” So, to quote the great Greek philosopher NIKE:
JUST DO IT!
