We have seen about three quarters of 2021, so now is a great time to take stock and ensure you are on track to reach your business goals.
Companies began the year in a variety of situations. Some businesses had never seen such great sales figures, while others had just reopened. As the year has progressed, so has company growth around the United States and the world.
How has your company growth stacked up, and are you on the right trajectory to reach your year-end goals? Let’s take a look.
Evaluating Past Performance
The last two years have been, as has been repeatedly noted, unprecedented. In a practical sense, that means it will be complicated to evaluate past performance by comparing year-to-year data.
So, while year-to-year comparison is interesting and often helpful, it may be more beneficial to examine your company’s performance this year. Specifically, as you look ahead at year-end goals.
Here are a few tools that you can use to evaluate this year’s performance so far:
Month-to-Month Metrics
Compare your vital metrics month-to-month to discover how your year is going. This will show you where you need to improve and in what areas things are succeeding.
Quarterly Targets
Did your business hit quarterly targets throughout the year? Q1 and Q2 are over, so you can see what has been accomplished there and what still needs to be done.
Launch Schedules
Have new products and updates been launched as planned? Is your business on schedule, or are some parts lagging?
Customer and Employee Surveys
Take the temperature of the most important people in your company, your clients and employees. Ask everyone to take a brief survey to find out how your company’s progress is being perceived.
Looking Ahead at Your Business Goals
While you certainly don’t need to limit your goals to year-end achievements, December 31st is a traditional end date for most yearly goals. So, with August coming to a close, now is a great time to look ahead and decide how your company will accomplish this year’s goals.
Here are a few ideas to help you along the way:
1. Break each goal down into steps.
Having an overarching goal is vital but can feel overwhelming to individual team members. Break each goal into steps that your employees can follow, so they have a clear path forward.
2. Establish metrics that will help you and your staff monitor whether the goals are being accomplished or not.
Creating measurable goals is vital to accomplishing them. Decide how goals will be measured and which metrics will show that a goal is being completed. This is simple with sales goals, but it may be a little more complicated for someone like a receptionist or accountant. Discuss with your team how each member can contribute to the overall goal.
3. Create a game around achieving the goals that will get your team excited.
We are nearing one of the busiest times of year for most companies. Get your team excited to achieve their goals during this final push by creating a game around it. Rewards could be something as lucrative as profit sharing or something as simple as a fun, year-end party with small gifts for all. Either way, tie the goal to something fun that will celebrate the accomplishment.
4. Keep the goals at top of mind.
There are many ways to keep your yearly goals at top of mind. One is to have weekly or monthly games which celebrate accomplishing small steps along the way. Another is to include the small steps needed to achieve the goal in daily stand-ups or weekly meetings. How you keep your goals at the top of mind will depend on your company culture and communication style.
5. Make sure to have a plan for celebrating goals that have been achieved.
It is so important to celebrate wins and focus on success. Be sure to have a year-end celebration planned that will recognize this year’s achievements. You and your team have worked hard to make the business goals happen – and you all deserve recognition!
As a note, if you’ve already achieved your year-end goals, be sure to acknowledge this accomplishment before establishing some new goals for the next four months. You’ve accomplished a lot and that should be celebrated!
Is one of your 2021 goals to systematize your business? Get in touch with Business Success Consulting Group today and we will get you on the right path for achieving this goal.
