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    • Action plan

    Develop your goal setting and planning routine

    Low effort

    High impact

    Goals galvanise employees. Effective goal setting, and the planning that underpins achieving those objectives, ensures the work they’re doing has the best possible impact. Business leaders are the fulcrum of that process, so investing time in your routine makes a big difference.

    • We’ve designed our action plans to be completed in the order of steps laid out and explained why each step is important
    • Customising your action plan lets you set your own completion dates, assign tasks to others and get notifications
    • Helpful tools are provided for certain steps while a tracking metric at the end will help you determine the long-term success of your effort
    • A downloadable PDF version of each action plan is available if you’d like to compete it offline
    What's involved? Ways to use this action plan Measuring impact
    1

    Pick three company goals and write down the process you used to create and monitor them in a bullet point list

    Impact: low

    Why will this help?

    Defining your process gives you a starting point to make improvements. You can update the list during this exercise and when you work through your monthly goal setting and planning routine in the future.

    Creating and maintaining a financial forecast

    Our free template will help you prepare and maintain a financial forecast, including profit and loss and cash flow.
    2

    Make sure the goals meet the standard set by the SMART methodology – they are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound – and update them if necessary

    Impact: high

    Why will this help?

    Building the SMART methodology into your routine improves the quality of the goal setting process and gives staff the best chance of having an impact.

    Using the SMART methodology to set goals

    Use our SMART goal-setting template to make each goal specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound.
    3

    Check the impact the goals will make on long-term objectives and whether they fit your company’s vision

    Impact: medium

    Why will this help?

    Comparing your monthly goals to long-term plans makes sure you’re heading in the right direction and helps you and the team see what impact they will have.

    Creating a monthly routine to set goals and assess progress against long-term objectives

    Developing a monthly goal-setting routine allows you to check your progress against long-term objectives and reflect on any changes you need to make.
    4

    Work with the team to convert the data that’s identified through setting the goals and reporting on progress into insight and action

    Impact: medium

    Why will this help?

    It’s not just about setting goals for your team, you need to make sure they have the opportunity to explain why targets were missed or hit – and you have the chance to make changes.

    5

    Update your goal setting and planning process, and block time in your diary to carry it out every month

    Impact: high

    Why will this help?

    Recording what you learnt through this exercise makes sure you can continue to use the new approach and make improvements. Blocking out time to complete the different tasks makes sure the routine sticks.

    What can I do with this Action Plan?

    Start this Action Plan

    Add some extra information to this plan and we’ll help you get it done.

    • We’ve designed our action plans to be completed in the order of steps laid out and explained why each step is important
    • Customising your action plan lets you set your own completion dates, assign tasks to others and get notifications
    • Helpful tools are provided for certain steps while a tracking metric at the end will help you determine the long-term success of your effort
    • A downloadable PDF version of each action plan is available if you’d like to compete it offline

    Download and print

    Get a printable template for this Action Plan, fill it in with some target dates, and share it with your team. Pin it on the wall where everyone can see it.

    Get the printable Action Plan

    Learning Groups

    We also run Learning Groups on these topics where you can join other leaders tackling the same challenges.

    Find a Learning Group

    How will I know if my action plan is working?

    Completed planning sessions

    The number of planning cycles you’ve finished effectively

    Why this metric?

    If you’ve properly embedded your monthly goal setting and planning routine, there will be a series of months where you’ve completed the process.

    How do I start tracking?

    Check your forecasts and goal reporting.