Staying on point seems to be one the most difficult things for people to do. You’ll see leaders excited about their latest and greatest initiative, only to fall off point within months or sadly, even weeks. Managers will start off well in implementing a new idea or plan and then two months go by and they’re back in the same rut of a routine they have always been in. This is a common occurrence in business and even in people’s personal lives. So what’s the deal? The deal is, someone or something got you “off point”. Or quite possibly, you weren’t on point to begin with. The key is to get on the right point to begin with and then stay on point.
Getting on the right point – Make sure you know the organization’s purpose or goal. Every initiative or idea you try to implement must feed into the overall goal of the organization. It still amazes me how many employees, managers and leaders don’t understand or know their organization’s purpose, goal or focus. That’s a great question to ask your employees in the next daily one-on-one meeting. Before moving forward with any new directive, make sure it fits with who your organization serves, what it’s best at and make sure you can track success (know the “win”).
Staying on point – Once you get on the right point, you must guard against the many things that can get you off point. Here are a few that are especially challenging for most people…
- Lack of a written plan/goal – If it isn’t written down, it’s just a wish. Very few people actually write their plans down. Writing out your plans and goals holds you accountable and keeps you focused on what’s important. This is why most people will give a million excuses why they don’t have them written down and kept where they can review they frequently.
- Spending too much time talking – Getting caught up in the organization’s grapevine damages productivity, kills innovation and ruins morale. Most leaders and managers refuse to enforce communication standards and at the same time wonder why the organization keeps getting off point.
- Inconsistency – Too many managers pat themselves on the back for saving $10 in department “A” while spending $1,000 in department “B” for something that could have been done without. They enforce one non-negotiable but not another. Everyone sees it, you lose credibility and as a result, no one buys into your initiatives.
- No communication and follow-up – If you want to implement anything, it’s essential that you have weekly team meetings and daily one-on-one meetings. If your weekly team meeting is over 30 minutes, it’s too long. The daily meeting should only last 2 to 10 minutes. We know you don’t have time but our response is, you don’t have time not to. Meaning, you’ll waste more time picking up the pieces of a failed initiative, putting out fires and working on the next failed initiative than if you had taken a little time on the front-end. Kind of like choosing to spend 30 minutes changing the oil in your car every few months as opposed to putting your car in the shop for a week every few years for an engine replacement.
When planning out your 4th quarter as a springboard into your 2013 plan, make sure to get yourself and your team on point, expect roadblocks and distractions, be flexible enough to make adjustments and stay true to the organization and its purpose.
