It’s time to plan for 2024. This is not an optional activity if you’re serious about your business. So how do you go about this?
Schedule a half to full day off-site
Planning takes different energy than execution so I recommend you schedule a half to full-day off-site meeting with your team. Everyone on your leadership team should participate in the 2024 plan. (If you don’t have a leadership team, then find a mentor or a coach who can help you think through this.) Good planning is done with others and while you as the owner need to set the vision and expectations for the year, how exactly you’re going to do it greatly benefits from team input. I also find this is a really good indicator of how engaged people are in the company’s vision. Watch carefully for how people show up and who participates. You might be surprised when someone steps up who was looking for an opportunity to do so. Or vice versa.
Break big goals into small Q1 and Q2 plans
Your planning meeting should be a combination of team building, long-term visioning, and near-term execution clarity. So mix in a couple of “get to know you” exercises. I love Big Talk’s flashcards to help with this. Then make sure the owners/leaders have time to update the team on the company’s journey and articulate the long-term vision. Don’t talk too much, find ways to facilitate interaction, movement, and lots of Q&A. Finally, bring it down to the ground and make sure everyone is clear on the company’s focus and “big rocks” for the first two quarters of the year. After the session, have individual meetings with people to ensure everyone knows specifically what they need to accomplish in Q1 and Q2, how to do it, and how it ties to the overall plan.
Create a 6-12 Month Budget
Don’t forget the numbers because every plan needs resources. How you create a budget depends on the size and history of your organization. If this is not a strength of yours, get help. (HINT: Alchemy can help with this, so book a demo here if you want to learn more). Either way, you can't go into 2024 winging it. That didn’t work particularly well in 2023 and it won’t in 2024 either.
Finally, remember this quote which has never been truer: “If you fail to plan, you’re planning to fail.” Benjamin Franklin.