90-day Futurestorming Sessions!
It is no coincidence that that successful businesses have many things in common.
Whether it is General Electric or Starbucks or thousands of other successful businesses around the globe, one such commonality is their discipline in taking time out to work on their business … EVERY 90 days!
Many business owners and managers get so caught up in the their day to day ‘busyness’, that they forget to look up and check that everything is heading in the right direction.
I have developed and used the following business planning template for many years with many clients. All who have developed the rigour and discipline of taking time out every 90 days to put it into practice report multiple upside benefits in doing so.
There are six component parts to the template … each of which needs to be constantly reviewed – at minimum every 90 days.
Mission: WHY are we here? What is our core purpose? What business are we in? What are the end result benefits our customers receive from us? What value do we add to their lives? What is the product of our product or service offering?
Vision: WHERE are we going? In what direction are we headed? What is our ultimate destination? What will our business look like when we have finished building it?
Values: WHAT guides our decisions? What guides our conduct? What principles underpin our behaviour? What should we do, as opposed to what shouldn’t we do? What is our Code of Conduct?
Strategies: HOW do we plan to achieve our vision? What are the categories of work to be done that make up our overall plan? What resources are required to develop and implement our plan?
Objectives: WHEN will our stated aims and objectives be achieved? What are our specific targets and goals along the way? How will we measure our progress? What is our timeline for milestone events? What are our collective and individual KPI’s?
Priorities: WHO is accountable for what in the next ninety days? What are the top five priorities for every division and department within the organisation in the next ninety days? What are the top five priorities for each member of staff for the next ninety days?
Develop the discipline of taking time out every 90 days to ‘futurestorm’ your business … you’ll be glad you did. So will your bank manager.