June 23, 2016- ISSN# 1545-2646
Follow up and Follow through
So you take the time to plan out your business objectives. You devise the tasks to achieve the goals. You make everyone in the organization aware of the details. So why do things on the plan not get accomplished?
Well one reason is the many additional distractions that keep you from following up and following through.
As the business leader you are always juggling many aspects of your business. You have a plan and shortly after your start to focus on one thing, something else presents itself and you become refocused on that item. It is part of the process of running the business that your time is being pulled in more than one direction.
The challenge is to limit those distractions and prioritize so that you can have a guidance system to keep you pointed in the best direction. Much like the concrete medians on the highway, they keep a car which loses control from passing across the median into on coming traffic. The concrete wall redirects the car back into the same flow of traffic to minimize the aftermath of the misdirected vehicle. You too need a set of barriers to keep your business activity pointed in the direction of all your goals and plans.
Many businesses have the business plan but fail to set up the monitoring and management system to achieve the plan. This system needs to alert them they have drifted off course and they need to be redirected back into the lane they started from.
The system to manage your plan is as straight forward as follow up and follow through. The key is that you MUST make time to do these things or you now place yourself in the catch up game and not the game plan you set up.
You do not and should not have to be the sole person in your organization to do the follow up and follow through. Each person who owns a part of the game plan must first hold themselves accountable to their part of the plan – the doing of the actions. The leader needs to follow up and follow through to ensure they have the tools and skills to complete their actions.
As mentioned in previous articles, the owner needs to separate themselves from the doing to the managing. Again working on the business rather than doing the actions of the business.
This week take a look at the plans you put together in the fall of 2015 for action in 2016. What have you done to review those plans. Are you following up on those action steps? Are you holding those people who are responsible for the actions to follow through?
As we approach the end of the first 6 months of 2016, there is time to revisit your game plan and get the focus back on track. Tweak the plan based on new knowledge and then re-energize the team to engage in the actions necessary to achieve the plan.
Need someone to hold you and your team accountable to your plan? JKL Associates is ready – call us at (313) 527-7945 so we can help you achieve your goals.
Questions or comments – email us at partners@jklassociates.com or call our Office at (313) 527-7945
Copyright – JKL Associates 2016
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