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How Do You Know That Your Plan is Going to Fail Before It Fails?

By Patrick Thean

dateMon, May 19, 2014 @ 10:00 AM

What are the early warning signs?

    • The team seems a little confused about what the priorities are. You say “A” and folks seem to think of it asR2Icon_QuarterlyPlanning_FINAL “B.” Yet no one asked to clarify. So… “AB” got done.
    • Too many priorities. Yes, we planned some strategic ones, but then after our planning session, reality and our day job hit us hard. And we never thought about the strategic quarterly priorities again until the next planning session.
  • We did not know what it really took to get the priorities done, and it turned out to be a lot harder and took a lot more time and energy than we had planned. So we start falling behind early in the quarter.
  • New stuff came up. Opportunities or issues cropped up that we did not anticipate. How do we handle that?

So how do we make sure that we create plans that can be successful?

  1. Explain WHY:  Tell the team why the plan for the quarter is important to the company and to each individual team member. Explain why it will make a huge impact on the company.
  2. Visualize HOW: Make sure the team not only understands what the execution plan for the quarter is, but also how to execute it. You’ve got to be able to see it to make it happen. If you cannot visualize how it will get done, then chances are, it probably won’t get done. You’ve got to see it do be able to do it!
  3. Engaged for 13 full weeks: You have got to stay engaged and help your team win every one of the thirteen weeks of the quarter.

Our May 7 webcast discussed the “How to” if you need help to implement these 3 points: Why, How, Engage.  Watch the recorded webcast on demand to learn more.

 

Rhythm Systems Patrick Thean's Summary from his Rhythm book

Patrick Thean

 

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