Plan It – Do It – Review It
Time to read : 4 minutes
Time Saved : 5+ hours a month
Much of the time, in our businesses, we’ll carry out a project without really understanding whether or not it has been successful.
We might continue doing things the same way we always have… or not, but it’s difficult to grow a business without having key aims in mind and assessing whether these have been met.
Based on the ‘Plan. Do. Review’ strategy, I’m here to show you how you can set yourself up for success. With an intentional mindset, you can conserve precious time and still reach your goals.
This strategy can be applied to anything, from smaller on-going tasks, such as social media marketing, or your discovery or follow-up calls to networking and team meetings, mapping out your goals or creating your business model.
Setting your key objectives before taking action will optimise every opportunity that comes your way and help you to continuously improve in every area.
1. Work on your business
The first step to success is to figure out and organise your ideas. A big part of this is asking yourself, ‘What are my objectives?’
What do I want to get out of this experience or particular task / workshop / event / agreement, etc.? And what will my customer or client get out of it?
Consider the benefits for both parties.
For example, it may be that you want to grow your customer base, develop your brand, become a subject matter expert, or teach a specific skillset. No matter how frequently you carry out each task, it’s still vital to set your objectives ahead of action.
This is the key to continual business, and self, improvement.
Write down your plan, because the simple act of recording your thoughts will increase the chances of success.
Use the markers ‘where, when, who and how‘ to help you simplify the essential details.
Generating a profit is a prime objective in every business, but there are so many more objectives and goals to consider, before we get on with the ‘doing’. They could be as simple as listening more in a meeting, or working out how many people you want to reach. Think beyond the obvious!
2. Work in your business.
When you’re working on the project or task in hand, make sure to keep returning to your key objectives.
Keeping them simple will help you to remain focused and will prevent you from veering off course.
It’s all well and good to think and plan, but the real progress happens when you follow through on that plan by putting it into action and then reflecting on the results.
3. Work out your business
Once you’ve carried out the task, it’s now important to reflect on how it went.
Did you meet the objectives that you set out to achieve at the beginning?
Were you successful to the standard that you wanted to be?
Reviewing is all about balance. Think about what went well, but also what could have been done better. Don’t beat yourself up if you did not accomplish all of your objectives. Instead, use this time to constructively criticise as a springboard for improvement.
Incorporate these new findings into your aims for the next task.
The more you carry out this process, the more effective and evolved your business will become. This, in turn, will become an increasingly efficient use of your time and resources as you become better at figuring out the right things to do in YOUR business.
Remember, you can’t do everything at once or be all things to all people. The small investment of time you put into planning will ultimately save you so much time in the long run. You’ll understand what is worth repeating, and the results will follow. It’ll also help you to achieve a healthy work/life balance.