All Articles
It's undeniable the new season has arrived—everything's in bloom, days are getting longer and warmer, and it's time for spring cleaning, baseball spring training, baby chicks and seasonal allergies. It's also a perfect time to revisit your goals. You remember those, right? The ones you wrote down with the best of intentions at the end of last year or in early January. Chances are, you need to revisit them, and now's the perfect time.
Let's take a look at each goal type and run through a checklist as the first quarter comes to a close. These questions work for both business and personal goals, and it's the perfect time to revisit those annual strategic business plans as well as those (perhaps long forgotten) New Year's Resolutions.
Annual Initiatives:
-
Are these still the right goals? Knowing what you know now, does your list of goals for the year still make sense? Do you need to adjust your success criteria or focus on a tighter list?
-
What have you accomplished year to date? Are you on track with your projections for this point in the year?
-
What have you learned so far? What have you tried that didn't work? What's working well that you should double down on for the next quarter?
-
What is the next step to get you closer to success at the end of the year?
Quarterly Priorities:
-
What did you accomplish? Did you achieve your success criteria for the quarter?
-
If so, mark your Priorities complete, and document what you learned. Think through what worked well to make you successful so you can replicate that in the future.
-
If not, what went wrong? Were you too ambitious with the goal, did you set too many goals and lose focus, were you waylaid by factors outside your control? Often we learn more from failure than success so be sure to document what you learned on these goals, too.
-
What do you need to focus on next? Are there incomplete or unsuccessful goals that need to be carried forward or repeated in the next quarter?
-
To achieve your annual goals, which goals should you prioritize this quarter? What does success look like on those goals by the end of the 13 weeks? What milestones will help you know if you're on track to success. (Here are some great tips on how to write goals for next quarter.)
Actions:
-
What tasks are still on your list for this quarter? Check off anything that you've completed.
-
Are there any remaining or overdue tasks you no longer need to complete? Sometimes we list things in the beginning of the year or quarter that we think will be important that actually aren't necessary. Delete those from your list.
-
Are there any remaining or overdue tasks that you can quickly complete? Don't let things linger into next quarter if you can do them in under 30 minutes. Just do them now, or put a "power hour" on your calendar at the end of your day and complete as many tasks as possible in that time.
-
Are there any items you can delegate? Maybe you can enlist help to knock out some of the remaining tasks.
-
What's a realistic due date for anything that's left on the list? Hopefully, after you check off items you've already done, deleted ones you no longer need to do, completed ones you could do quickly, and delegated ones you don't have to do yourself, you don't have many tasks left on the list. For remaining items, update the due date to a realistic time in the near future and put time on your calendar to actually get those done.
KPIs:
Each quarter, you should also do an audit of your KPIs to ensure you are measuring the right leading and result indicators to achieve success. Here's a great resource with key questions for evaluating what you're measuring at the start of each quarter.
Having the discipline to remain accountable to your goals can be tough, but putting a weekly process in place to track your progress, reflect on your goals and plan with intention at the start of each quarter will help you and your team remain accountable. Good luck!
Here are other blogs you might be interested in:
Photo Credit: iStock by Getty Images