Tips for a Strong Summer Quarter

If your company is like ours, then you are heading into a few months with lots of travel and vacation time by different team members at different times. For many of our clients, it can be difficult to execute on the Q3 plan… many clients have a hard time scheduling the time to plan together before or after the summer holidays and then struggle to get their priorities into Rhythm.

Here are some tips for a successful summer quarter:

• Make every effort to plan before summer travel schedules get hectic. If this is historically a difficult time to get everyone in the same room, plan now for the next quarter. Set the date for quarterly planning well in advance, communicate it to the key players, and emphasize the importance of protecting this day together to hammer out priorities for the quarter.

• Be realistic about what you can accomplish this quarter. Look at the vacation calendar for the team in your planning session, and don’t put deliverables in your plan that your team could not possibly complete successfully on time. Maybe your team is laser focused on only one or two priorities for the summer that are critical for achieving the annual plan. Less is more, especially when your resources are spread thin.

• Use Rhythm software to stay on top of your plan even when the team is not all together. In your planning session, agree that even if you are traveling, the team will still update priorities and KPIs for the week before they leave. If there are key deliverables that have to be completed while the accountable person is out of town, assign someone on the team to cover for that person. Clarify who will do what when and document as Action Items, and ensure that the person who is covering has the right information to be successful. Use the comments in Rhythm to collaborate on shared priorities and to communicate progress or stuck points to update the team even when they are not together in the office.

• When you come back from traveling, look at Rhythm for updates on what you’ve missed. If your team is updating weekly with comments and Week In Sync notes, you will have a very good idea of what happened while you were gone. This can help you get back into your rhythm faster once you return.

Hopefully, you have some great vacation plans of your own this summer, so I hope you are able to relax and enjoy and trust that your team can use Rhythm to stay accountable to deliverables and keep you updated while you are out.

Have a fun summer!