Halftime!

You need more than “just a positive frame of mind”.

Adjust your plan, and execute. 2H24 is here!

“Halftime, dut du dut dut…”. (If you read the text in Ace Ventura’s voice, let me know)

Hard to believe that the second half of 2024 is here; but as we say in the Navy - “time, tide and formation wait for no one.” - July is here.

Put me in coach!

I’ve seen my fair share of annual “offsite strategic planning meetings” in late October through December. Three to four days of pilgrimage to a magical place, where we leadership teams meet the good idea fairy, formulate a plan, and then…

I ended the paragraph with an ellipsis to trigger Millennials (you’re welcome), but more importantly to let everyone fill in the blank accordingly.  If you are in a position to participate in the planning; you should be in a position to execute, cross the proverbial “theory to practice” bridge, and get things done.

June, July, and the beginning of August are usually slow business months. This is your prime opportunity to evaluate your annual strategic and tactical plans, evaluate actual performance against them, and make adjustments while there is still time in the year to make them count. 

Here are five suggestions to consider as you adjust your plans for work in 2H24:

1. Make sure the current plan is available to all.

“Your probability of skydiving is zero, unless you show up to the drop zone”. Make sure that everyone in your team has access to the plan, and that they are referencing to it as they operate.

1. Evaluate your business world and the world around you.

As quickly as technology and world affairs change, take a moment to verify how the “initial conditions” for the plans have changed (or not). Take the time to consider known or identifiable trends, and stay ahead of the trends. Be proactive as much as you can, but by all means, start from a place of reality, so check where you are today to adjust your plan.

1. Evaluate your performance against stated KPIs and OKRs.

We are looking here for orders of magnitude. If you are “close in range”, say 5%/10% from your target the adjustments may be subtle. If you are grossly missing the mark, (say by 20%) this may not be an issue of adjusting the KPIs & OKRs, but rather digging in for a moment to see the fundamental challenge that may be hiding in your organization. 

1. Seek an independent opinion and adjust course as needed

Don’t rely in a single opinion, and where possible, seek a peer review from someone who is not in your department / company. A fresh set of eyes looking at the data may very well prevent you from using your “rosie glasses” and tricking yourself into believing “all is well”.  Think of this as TPC (two person control) and check your work carefully.

1. Build “slack” into your adjustments to ensure you “beat” the plan

In this context, make sure that you move your deadlines “in” after you adjust your goals and associated operations so you have one more chance “on reserve” before the results are baked for the year.

BONUS - Communicate, communicate and communicate the plan to all hands.