14/03/2017

Planning to Achieve Business Goals

Simon Chaplin | BIAS Australia 

The importance of determining what you want to accomplish with planning is crucial to achieving goals. 

Your goals should be documented, descriptive and visualised – what the mind can’t visualise, the mind can’t achieve! To plan effectively, setting the right objectives is critical. 

To arrive at the best answers, we must first ask the right questions.

 In a fast-changing and unpredictable business environment, the need to develop a variety of strategies is increasingly important and developments in technology should always be factored in. 

Identify alternative future scenarios and strategies so that you are always ready to adjust to current marketplace conditions. As the great philosopher Mike Tyson once stated, “Everyone has a plan ‘till they get punched in the mouth!”

 Technology has made business a 24/7 global proposition, so be prepared to embrace change and be prepared to spend money on IT ensuring your digital strategy is tailored to meet your objectives. Take time to understand how things such as IT tweaks could financially benefit your business – from cloud computing to online promotions or sales or perhaps launching your own app! This not only ensures that you are not left behind, but you could also benefit from being the happy recipient of business that others are losing as a result of being reluctant to embrace change.

 Keep track of goals and review regularly, but don’t lose sight of the successes that happen in between. Celebrating what has been done right keeps everyone motivated to do it again! 

Be creative and aim to build a culture of appreciation by way of rewarding employees who are working to achieve the goals of the company, noting that financial incentives are not necessarily the only incentives. 

Promoting pride in a job well done and building confidence in the team can also be rewarding for individuals.

Communicate your values, discover the values of staff and aim to build a team where these values correspond with each other.

 Look to invest in training existing staff rather than recruiting externally. 

Upskilling promotes goodwill and is a wise investment as it’s often less expensive to retrain current staff than to employ new staff and also reduces the need to compete for external staff. 

Consider encouraging employees to assist in the goal creation process. 

This could help to get everyone on the same page where people feel empowered to take specific action and would also lead to increased accountability.

 To summarise, planning is essential for business success and also key in assuring the challenges of tomorrow are adequately prepared for!

 “Planning is bringing the future into the present so you can do something about it now” – Alan Lakein