In my last post I talked about the importance to establishing attainable goals for you company. As I outlined in my previous article, these goals are your business’s foundation for moving forward and achieving your overall vision. However, it can be easy to veer off track. Projects, procrastination, and personal life – among others – can easily distract you and your employees from striving towards these goals. That’s why I place special value on establishing 90-day business plans for each of your goals.
There are many reasons you might need to design a 90-day business plan. Some jobs require new or potential employees to present their own strategies and expectations for their first 90 days at the company, especially if the new hire will be working in a management or leadership position. Even if it’s not required, it’s always a good move to come into a new job prepared to improve and make a difference.
For new hires, one of the most important elements of the work place to address right off the bat is your relationship with your co-workers. First opinions among colleagues usually manifest within the first few days, so therefore establishing yourself as a trustworthy, supportive, and welcoming team member should be among your top priorities. Building meaningful, trusting relationships is an integral part of maintaining the office culture, which encourages participation and productivity towards achieving company goals. When planning a first 90-day employment plan, don’t go straight for what you can “fix” and be sure to spend time on what you can improve.
There is no “right” way to design a 90-day plan. Seeing progress – or at least the desire and drive to progress – in a new employee’s first 90 days is extremely important for a company’s overall advancement. Learning the company’s values and processes, aligning your skills and ideas with their vision, and exploring what you can contribute to the end goal and culture should be the focus of a new-employment plan.
Another purpose for creating and maintaining a 90-day plan from a managerial point of view is to have a place of reference for tracking growth and productivity in your team. Establishing goals is relatively useless unless you are actively moving towards achieving them. In order to track that movement, it’s important to revisit your goals quarterly, or every 90-days. This will give you an idea of whether your expectations have been met, if they can be met, and what you can change or improve in order to meet them.
As opposed to setting up a personal 90-plan for your first three months of employment, a companywide 90-plan should be just that…companywide. Making your plans and expectations clear and available to your employees gives them a chance to reflect, brainstorm, and actively pursue these goals with you. Set up regular meetings to go over your quarterly plans and encourage collaboration and ideas from your team. Make the company’s goals everyone’s goals by including them in the process of analyzing and designing goal-oriented business strategies.
