The start of a new year often brings renewed energy and commitment to your business and its goals. As you look to the year ahead, consider scheduling time now for these best practices for professionally managed organizations so they don’t get lost in the shuffle.
1. Time to work on your business, not in it
If you’re like most business owners, you may struggle with getting trapped in the day-to-day work of your business. While that work can demand a lot of your time and attention, taking time to step away from the business to work on it is a critical component of leading a high-performing organization. Stepping away from the physical space of your business? Even better.
2. Time away from the business altogether
Working on the business is important, but so is stepping away from it. When you schedule time away from your business, you’re able to clear your mind, dream big, reconnect with your why, and come back to work refreshed. Taking time off is a healthy part of business ownership that can easily get deprioritized. Challenge yourself this year by booking a vacation now so you’re not struggling to fit one in later.
3. Time to work on yourself
When you run a business, your business grows as you grow. Taking time to improve your skills through ongoing learning and leadership coaching can propel your business forward. Maybe you want to start your professional management journey, learn how to level up your business by implementing systems thinking, or advance your leadership skills as you learn to lead consciously. Or perhaps you just want to process your own path forward in Leadership Coaching or Business Coaching. What’s your big growth goal for 2022? Start taking steps toward it now.
One to rethink: Strategic planning
A strategic plan describes what you intend to focus on to implement your strategy, achieve your vision, and create competitive advantage. And the process to create that plan – strategic planning – is time spent defining where you want the business to go and how you’ll choose to get there.
Some companies treat strategic planning as an annual event where you gather to create a document. But then what? The team leaves your planning session energized, but as you get back to the day-to-day, your document sits in a shared folder, gathering digital dust and growing irrelevant.
Organizations that practice professional management treat strategic planning as an ongoing process that they revisit quarterly or even monthly. Revisiting your strategic plan throughout the year can help:
- Ensure the organization’s priorities stay relevant and top-of-mind
- Mindfully evolve your plan over time as your business and the market changes
- Re-energize and re-align the team to the vision
- Renew your commitment to professional management
Scheduling time for these activities now can help infuse structure, energy, and meaning into your work over the next 12 months. We wish you and your team a year filled with growth and progress!
