BUT, WE HAD A PLAN

I love a plan! I enjoy the process of making a plan. There is just a special joy about deciding a course of action to deal with a specific problem. Left to my own devices, I usually stick with the plan. As a matter of fact, I often find myself in the position of wondering why something did not happen….and my response is ‘BUT, WE HAD A PLAN’.

The reality is that having a plan and implementing a plan live at opposite ends of the spectrum.

So here are steps to help you accomplish what you are planning:

1 – Make your plan realistic. When making a plan it is tempting to want to see everything in a Pollyanna, pie in the sky way; DON’T DO IT! Have lofty goals and reach for the stars but make your plan for accomplishment rooted firmly in realistically what you can accomplish.

2 – Get the entire teams buy in. If you are a boss making the plan, you can demand compliance but if your team doesn’t understand the reasons and agree with the plan, the implementation will be less effective.

3 – Document the plan. It is easy to lie to ourselves. It is easy to ‘modify’ the plan in our minds as an excuse to not implement it. It is also easy for a team member to claim they didn’t understand the plan.  If the plan lives in a written format there is no chance for confusion and less chance of mental justifications.

4 – Create visual cues. I like to do this in my calendar (or in a task manager that offers a ‘pop up’ on my computer or a text message reminder). For example, I have a pop up that says, ‘Go to the gym’.

5 – Build a reward into the plan. Everyone loves to be rewarded for a job well done. So, feed your team, give a bonus, or relax your dress code for a day; whatever reward works for your team.

Meeting your goals is just a matter of knowing where you are going and how you are going to get there!