Deliver results for your business. Step six – review your progress
Results are what counts. And all the talk, endless effort and countless cash will amount to nothing unless you know how to deliver results.
From working with hundreds of SME clients over the last 10 years, and from 15 years of personal experience in multinationals prior to that, I’ve distilled out my six top tips to ensure you have the know-how to do just that.
The final step, number six;
Review progress weekly (or even daily)
No matter how good your plan is, things will change as you go along. Some people use that as an excuse not to plan, others recognise it’s a way to stay sharp as you become more aware of what’s working and what’s not. Especially with new ventures, there will be surprises. Some things may work better than expected, others not.
For instance on a recent project involving a big roll out of product in the retail sector, we experienced various problems with both the kit itself and the installations. Through daily reviews we identified the issues and developed solutions – adapting the overall plan as required.
Whatever gets thrown up in your reviews, figure out why, get over it and crack on with new insights.
Reviews should also consider individual and team performance. Thanks to feedback and evaluation skills developed as a member of Toastmasters International, I can only stress the importance of making a habit of commending people for what’s working. They’ll be much more willing to listen to you when you need to recommend changes to their behaviour another time.
It’s not rocket science, however how many people do you know who pile in with the criticism when things go wrong – and then can’t understand why team motivation falls through the floor?
These tips work together as a system to reinforce each other. Apply them to help you deliver your results more effectively.
P.S. Think you’re already doing this and not getting the results you want? I’m always interested in having my insights challenged! Drop me an email hilary.briggs@r2p.co.uk and let’s figure it out.
