“What was the major benefit of this exercise?” I asked. For the past two weeks, we had been planning intensive. Every meeting with every company was about their plan for the year. It was over. The confetti was on the floor and all the marching bands had gone home.

For the past three days, I had met with three different groups, each group member presenting their plan that they had worked so hard to create. The groups had ripped them apart and put them back together.

I was packing my flipchart. Emily was hanging around. I stopped packing and asked her again, “What was the major benefit of this exercise?”

“You know, at first, I thought I was preparing this plan to show my group how smart I was, how I had everything together. Everything was geared toward this meeting, but now that it’s over, I realize, all this work wasn’t for them.”

“No, it wasn’t,” I confirmed.

“It was for me. It was for me to get my head straight for the year.” Emily smiled and tucked her plan under her arm. “Gotta, go. Gotta go, gitter done.” -TF

“Where’s the beef?” Paul was standing at the front. For the past ten minutes, he had been explaining his plan for the year. At the end of his presentation, I broke the group into four teams of three. Each team had two minutes to prepare three questions. His presentation had been nice.

“Where’s the beef?” repeated Marilyn. “You say, this year, you are going to try to become the premier service provider in the tri-county area, by exceeding the expectations of your customers. But I don’t know what that means. It sounds like the same thing your competitor is saying. It’s all fluff, meaningless. If I was your customer, (and, by the way, I am), and you told me that, I would think you are full of crap.

“If you are going to exceed my expectations, I want you to define your service level. How long will it take for you to respond on-site? To what specifications will the work be done? What kind of written guarantee will you sign? Will I pay exactly what you quoted on the phone for the work?

“Get specific. If you want to become the premier provider, you can’t just say it; you have to get specific about your level of service.”

Good job, Marilyn. -TF

“So, it’s January 11, and you are all assembled here to present your plans for the year. First, I want you to know how unique this is. Most organizations, in spite of the push for planning, are still in the writing process and will likely never finish their plan. This means they will continue to run their companies without any strategic direction.”

This is my speech today to an executive group assembled for the sole purpose of grilling each other about their 2006 Business Plans.

“These companies will be subject to the whims of the marketplace. They will react as best they can without a plan. It’s like calling an audible on the football field for a play that only exists in the mind of the quarterback.

“It’s eleven days into the new year and you know what you want. Today, you will likely get beat up by this group. Tomorrow, you will be ready to present this plan to your teams back at the office. You are ready to lead.” -TF

“It seems we just get so busy that we forget to have follow-up meetings about our annual plan,” said Joyce. “We get busy, and before you know it, summer’s almost gone.”

“Do you have a 2006 calendar?” I asked.

“Well, yes, I think I have three.”

“Well, pick the one you are going to use this year and call a meeting,” I said. “And tell everyone to bring their calendars. This is not a very sophisticated management skill, but it works every time. Right, now, while your annual plan is fresh on everyone’s mind, schedule your follow-up meetings.

“Schedule a half day in April, to review the first quarter, then a half day in July to review the second quarter. Add another half day in October for the third quarter. Get them on the calendar, now, so as time marches on, those dates are already protected.

“Schedule one to two full days in December to review the fourth quarter and to finalize plans for 2007. That’s it. Now, you have a follow-up plan in progress. You will get busy, that’s why you have to schedule this stuff, now.”

I was a little overwhelmed at the interest in our planning template from last week. 108 people requested a copy of the template. Now, if we could just hear what you are doing with it? -TF

“Where we drop the ball is follow-up.” Nathan shook his head from side to side. “We are pretty good at setting goals, but as soon as we’re done with that, life goes on and we forget all the hard work and time we spent planning.”

“What habits do you need to create,” I asked.

“What do you mean?” Nathan looked puzzled.

“Follow-up is not just a ball that gets dropped. As a management skill, it is a way of life. I always look for habits. What are you not doing as a routine that stops you from following up?”

It was like a smack in the forehead with a beer can. “I see where you are going with this,” Nathan said, still shaking his head. “We usually have a meeting every Friday, and ever since the holidays crept up, we just stopped having the meetings.”

“What’s on your schedule this Friday?” I quizzed.

Nathan was quick to respond, “I think we should have our regular Friday meeting to follow-up on all the promises we have made to ourselves.” -TF

“I drew names out of the hat, and you are going first,” I said.

“But, I have never done this before,” resisted Edwin.

“That’s why you are known as fresh meat and believe me, the rest of the group will appreciate that you volunteered to go first.” Next week, Edwin was scheduled to present his 2006 Business Plan to an executive group he belongs to.

“Edwin, here is how it works. Make 15 copies of this 3-page plan. Everyone gets 2 minutes to read your plan. You then get 10 minutes to present additional information to fill in the details.

“At the end of your presentation, I will break the group into three person teams. They get 90 seconds to write down three questions about your presentation.

“Then, I let them loose on you for the next 20 minutes. It will be painful, but it may be your most valuable strategic exercise of the year. Any questions?”

If you want to truly get something valuable out of this planning process, grab a group of your colleagues and let them poke holes in your business plan. The feedback will be priceless.-TF

“What do you think is stopping you from creating a plan for this year?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” replied Dawson. “Sometimes, it seems like just an exercise that we go through every year. You know, it’s January, we have to have a plan.”

“I don’t think you know what you want,” I challenged. There was silence as the challenge sunk in. I like to challenge people. As a management skill, it usually stirs things up a bit.

“That’s not true!!! I know what I want. We have a new product we are trying to get out of the ground and a new branch we want to open in the north part of the state. There is a new market we want to go after by repackaging one of our existing services. There is a lot of stuff we want to do.”

“Good,” I said. “Now, draw 3 pictures for me, one for the new product, one for the new branch and one for the new market.”

Have you written down your action plan for 2006? Better get started. -TF

“Goals. Who needs ’em?” asked Yolanda. “Every year, I set some goals. It’s kind of like my New Year’s Resolutions. By the end of February, I can’t even remember what they were.”

“Oh? So, tell me about your resolution for this year.” Yolanda looked a bit uncomfortable.

“Well, I haven’t exactly worked it out, yet. Until I am sure, I would rather not go blabbing it around.”

“Have you thought, perhaps, that’s why your New Year’s resolution never works?”

“What do you mean?”

“Yolanda, your New Year’s resolution never works, because you never committed to it. You never clearly defined it. Did you ever write it down?” Yolanda was silent. “Here is the management skill. Goals work just like New Year’s resolutions. If you really want to make a change, write it down. Then say it to yourself out loud. Then say it out loud in front of a group of people. And if you really want to make it stick, give that group permission to hold you accountable for the goal. Take that written goal and post it somewhere public, where you see it every day, where others see it every day. You can start with a 3×5 card taped to your mirror.”

What is your resolution this year? What major thing do you want to achieve? Have you written it down? Have you shared it with your team? I am curious. What do you do to keep your goals visible throughout the year? -TF

P.S. We sent out a ton of planning templates from yesterday’s post. If you would like a template, just slip me an email.

Last year, they spent $12,000 on a planning consultant to help them put together a business plan that included Carl’s division. Since it was delivered, last February, only three people have even looked at it. No wonder Carl was reluctant when I asked for this year’s plan.

“Why the sad face?” I asked.

“Planning is one of those management skills that I always seem to put off,” Carl replied.

“Carl, at the end of this year, do you want your division to be exactly as it is, now?”

“No way, there are several things I would like to change.”

“Good. Carl, here are some questions for you:

How can you design those changes so they are well thought-out?

How can you communicate your ideas clearly to other people?

How can you bring people together to discuss your ideas so they have a better chance of getting done?”

Carl thought for a minute, then finally spoke. “I guess I should write down my ideas, to make sure they are clear in my own mind, then I can send them around to the other people on my team.”

“Would you like a small planning template to help you get started?” I asked. Carl’s eyes got wide as his head moved up and down.

If you would like a copy of the template I am sending to Carl, just drop me an email. (If you are an email subscriber to Management Skills Blog, just reply to this email).