Are you running your business or is your business running you? For most in the apparel industry, the 4th quarter is their most profitable time of the year, and planning is essential to its success. Do you have a hard time making time for effective planning? Well, you aren’t alone. I recently asked leaders throughout the apparel industry how they make time for planning. Many said that while they understand how important planning is, they are so busy reacting to their business they often don’t have time to do long-term planning. Or when they do make time for it they have a hard time protecting that time on their calendars. Let’s be honest, implementing a strategy requires discipline to align goals and objectives. Discipline is a learned behavior that requires repetition, patience, and a whole lot of practice. In addition, your team must be aware of your goals so they aren’t blindly chasing KPIs. Don’t forget that your team also plays a key role in the success of your business and in implementing your strategy! Quarterly planning is more about refining versus defining. Regardless of whether you are refining or defining your Q4 strategy, you need to make time for it now to ensure you are setting your team and business up for success. In a previous blog post, I shared steps for effective planning and when it comes to quarterly planning we want to keep the big picture in mind (our “why”) but we want to focus more on the tactics. Tactics to be mindful of: Tactic 1 – Start with looking back to the previous year: What worked and what didn’t work? Review last year’s planning calendar and discuss what went well and what didn’t go well. Tactic 2 – Refine your objectives Tactic 3 – Refine your content Remember that when adding details to your planner be sure to ask yourself “will this help me meet the goals set out in my strategic objectives?” if it doesn’t move it off the list! |
| We are putting the finishing touches on our Q4 Strategic Planning Workshop. Click here, and be the first to be notified. Seating is limited. |