Spring into action!

There is something about Springtime that we think brings a new energy to business – the days are lighter and brighter (generally) and there’s plenty of the year still left to go at to achieve our goals.

The Winter months of January and February can be challenging from a motivational perspective, it can be cold, damp, dark. When the new leaves start emerging on the trees and those green shoots and flowers start sprouting up, you will be hard pressed not to feel that same burst of renewed energy.

As the first quarter of the year draws to a close, it is also a great opportunity to review and maybe reset those New Year intentions you set out for your business. Are you on track? Are there action steps you need to take that maybe you’ve been procrastinating? It’s time to spring into action!

The strategy work we support our clients with is the DICE Game Plan. Every business needs one – we call it your ‘Plan to Win’. Of course planning has to be fluid, as we can never plan for every eventuality in business (we see you Covid-19), but having a plan on a page which articulates what you want to achieve in your business over the year ahead is a great tool. Not only does it keep the leadership team on track, but it is also a great engagement tool which helps employees understand the bigger ‘why’ behind the everyday tasks and actions they are carrying out.

We love helping business owners to translate their over-arching vision into a roadmap that details step by step the milestones they need to achieve to get them there. In the face of constant change, planning timescales are shorter than they used to be. The key to success is that the roadmap isn’t just something written on a page – it must be implemented, and it must be a live document that ebbs and flows with every month.

When you work with DICE, we are there as your conscience, keeping you on track, looking for solutions to issues as they crop up, considering ways to pivot and change if needs be.

Here are our top 5 tips on creating your Game Plan:

1. Be guided by your Vision – having a clear vision to where you want the organisation to be in 5, 10 years plus is a great ‘North Star’ for you to be able to hang onto.
2. Think long and short term – once you have your Vision, it is important to work out what are the longer term and shorter-term actions that are going to help you get there.
3. Hold regular (ideally monthly) reviews to track progress – as outlined earlier, the need for your Game Plan to be a live document is because things can and do change regularly. Make sure you have a meeting structure with the key implementers (usually your senior leadership team) that is in place to track progress and make changes to the roadmap as needed.
4. Communicate, communicate, communicate – see your Game Plan as THE most important tool in your business toolbox for engaging your employees in the bigger purpose behind why they do the work they do. Schedule regular (ideally quarterly) all-employee briefings to share progress against the plan.
5. Rinse and repeat – planning done well is a cyclical process – it isn’t one and done. Create a calendar for your business and schedule those monthly, quarterly, and annual dates – it will really help to keep you on track.

To be a truly strategic organisation requires discipline, and it can help you to have the outside support from a DICE Roller to answer to! If you need some support or accountability in achieving your big goals this year, get in touch – we can help.

PS: If you’re coming to this blog at another time of the year, see it a sign that you are ready to spring into action regardless of the season!