Objectives define the annual goals of a company, but over the course of a year the process can become routine and tedious. Although action plans motivate the staff to think about what they must do to achieve the objectives, they might take anywhere from three months to a full year-and such plans define the work effort, not the results.
The key to successful planning is benchmarking. To be worthwhile, each benchmark you establish must be:
- Measurable
- Achievable in a one-month period.
- Treated like a one-month project with a beginning and an end
Most benchmarks fail because of non- or mis-implemented action plans. An amazingly high number of benchmarks are achieved when logical, cogent action plans are fully implemented. If a benchmark is managed like a project, with weekly interim results tracked by a project team, it remains a vivid, immediate objective of the group.
Approach each benchmark enthusiastically. If you can't, you're the wrong person to do the project. No benchmark is insignificant if the result is the achievement of your primary business objective.
Approach every action plan and benchmark with a 'Let's try it and see what happens' attitude. Treat everything as a game: The goal is to win more often than you lose. Remember that no benchmark project is fatal. Refine as you learn. It's OK to make mistakes - this is the only path to success.
Want to succeed more often? Try more things and fail more often. Celebrate benchmark victories. It helps keep the plan interesting and exciting.
This article is taken from the ACG Pipeline newsletter and is reproduced with permission. E. Al Diamond is president of Agency Consulting Group, Inc., 507 North Kings Highway, Cherry Hill, NJ 08034, (800) 779-2430, Fax (856) 667-6224, E-Mail[email protected], or Web site www.agencyconsulting.com.