3 steps to successful planning
If you recall the history of your company, you will find that the highest level of morale and motivation of employees in it was exactly when everyone understood what the goals and the biggest barriers to them were. And they were also very well aware of the way in which she was going to cope with these barriers. That is why when I hold meetings for my Visotsky Inc. team I talk about the goals of the company and the challenges that face us.
Want to check how things are going with your company right now? Ask individual managers how they see the main direction in the development of the company, and what, in their opinion, is the point. Do not be afraid, ask! It is possible that you will find the root cause of problems with planning and implementing plans.
Many people know the statement by Steve Jobs: “There is no point in hiring sensible people, and then indicate what they should do.” This is about how people themselves must decide how to plan and do their work. Undoubtedly, a reasonable idea, but do not forget that Jobs was one of the most striking goal-makers of our time. Few have yet heard about his “field of distorted reality,” that, according to the people around him, Steve was often captivated by illusions. An illusion is something that does not yet exist, something that is only in the imagination.
What are the main goals of any company? These are illusions created by the goal-maker. If, firstly, he himself is sufficiently passionate about this illusion and, secondly, has the gift of persuasion, then others join his illusion.
Creating the future always begins with a bold inspirational idea, and only then grows in plans and control tasks.
In order for planning to become possible at all, it is necessary to do:
The first step
Creating a bright, inspiring illusion and promoting it to the leaders and employees of the company. About how to formulate the goal of the company I described in detail in the book The Business Owner Defined.
Read the missions of the most successful companies — the best of them are a reflection of such illusions. It doesn’t matter what size the company is, only how much effort is required to advance these ideas to employees depends on the size.
Second step
Finding a company Achilles heel that does not allow you to quickly realize these inspirational goals. We can say: this is a certain central idea of a general plan of action.
If there is no such idea, then the individual plans of the units will resemble a pile of straw, actions will not be coordinated in the main direction. Of course, plans to improve and develop individual units are valuable, but they will not take the organization to a new level and will not lead to the realization of the illusion created by the goal-setter.
Third step
To formulate and promote this central idea to company executives. This, incidentally, is a great test for the one who is in charge. It does not matter how this idea is found: using SWOT analysis, Goldratt’s TOC techniques, or in some other way.
One of the tools for promoting ideas is a staff meeting. At Vysotsky Consulting branches, they are conducted by the directors once a week for all employees. We give this tool to entrepreneurs in the framework of the Business Booster, and in practice, as the owners say, after 3–4 meetings, the fighting spirit of the team begins to increase.
In order for people to be inspired by work in the company, they must understand what is the main idea that unites plans of all levels, and how they should come to victory.
It doesn’t matter what the scale of the business is — a national magazine, local culinary industry or a real estate agency, employees at all levels should clearly know which way and where they go.
When such an understanding has been created, one can brainstorm to develop ideas on how to deal with obstacles to the goal, start writing detailed plans, then coordinate them with each other, set tasks, assign responsible people and, of course, control the execution of tasks. This kind of mechanics for planning and managing plans is also important because it helps to keep track of the progress of plans. After all, no matter how inspiring ideas might be, if they are worth it, many barriers will arise in the implementation process. Mechanics help to quickly detect obstacles and cope with them, this is its purpose.
However, planning becomes mechanistic and burdensome if it is not based on inspirational ideas. Therefore, set inspirational goals, promote them to teams and achieve what you want with clearly planned steps.
