Our last posting talked about BHAGs (Big Hairy Audacious Goals) and we asked, \u201cWhat\u2019s Your New Year\u2019s BHAG?\u201d\u00a0 But achieving a BHAG is just like keeping a New Year\u2019s resolution: it\u2019s all in the execution.\u00a0 It\u2019s all in the doing.\u00a0 It\u2019s one thing to dream up a BHAG, it\u2019s quite another to put the wheels in motion and do it.\u00a0 The problem is this: a small business owner will direct that something be done . . . whether it\u2019s a BHAG, annual plan, or some other task-oriented goal\u00a0\u00a0 . . . but then gets distracted by ongoing customer demands and by the daily brush fires that need to be put out.\u00a0 As a result, the goal, whatever it is, gets put on the shelf and forgotten.\u00a0\u00a0 If execution is a problem for you and your organization, please read below for some thoughts on how to turn that around.<\/p>\n
Why can\u2019t we ever get anything done around here?<\/strong><\/p>\n We commonly hear business owners complain, \u201cI ask my people to do something, and when I turn around three months later, it\u2019s still not done.\u00a0 Drives me crazy!\u201d<\/p>\n So let\u2019s be clear.\u00a0 When your people aren\u2019t doing what you ask them to do on a timely basis, it\u2019s your fault, not theirs.\u00a0 It\u2019s your fault because you apparently have not made specific assignments, have not set reasonable deadlines, have not required appropriate status reports so that you know how the assigned tasks are progressing, and most importantly, have not given feedback on those status reports so that your people know you\u2019re paying attention to them.\u00a0 It would be nice if you could just throw down a lightning bolt and walk away with the certain knowledge your people would do your bidding, but it generally doesn\u2019t work that way.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s what really happens.<\/p>\n You direct your people to do something, to complete some task.\u00a0 They wonder if you\u2019re really serious about this because, after all, you tend to throw down these lightning bolts all the time and then promptly forget about them.\u00a0 So they watch, and they see that you\u2019re off in some entirely new direction with nary a glance in your rearview mirror.\u00a0 Since they have their own daily fires to put out, they forget about your lightning bolt because apparently, so have you.<\/p>\n I wish I could tell you that there\u2019s an easy solution to this that requires little or nothing from you, but I can\u2019t.\u00a0 If I could, I\u2019d be sitting on a warm beach someplace drinking something with a little umbrella in it.\u00a0 The truth is, your people will pay attention to the things they can see you paying attention to.\u00a0 The things you ignore, they will ignore.\u00a0 It\u2019s that simple.<\/p>\n If you have a task or a project of some kind that is outside of your organization\u2019s normal activity, here\u2019s how to get it done:<\/p>\n 1.\u00a0Assign a \u201cchampion\u201d who you can hold accountable for completing the task.\u00a0 This has to be a single individual, not a team or a committee.\u00a0 When more than one person is accountable, nobody\u2019s accountable.\u00a0 The champion can recruit others who are accountable to him or her, but only the champion is accountable to you.<\/p>\n 2.\u00a0Discuss the goal you want to achieve with the champion.\u00a0 Make sure you agree on the outcome to be achieved, a budget (if an investment is required), and a deadline for completion, but avoid micro-managing the details of how that outcome will be achieved.\u00a0 Let the champion figure that out.<\/p>\n 3.\u00a0Determine how you will get feedback from the champion on his or her progress.\u00a0 If you have regular staff meetings, feedback on goals-in-progress could be a standard agenda item.\u00a0 If not, you might have to schedule regular face-to-face or telephone meetings with the champion, or if you prefer, written reports.<\/p>\n 4.\u00a0Make sure your champion knows you\u2019re paying attention to the feedback you\u2019re getting, particularly if it\u2019s written and not verbal.\u00a0 If you sense the task is getting bogged down or heading in the wrong direction, discuss it with your champion and find out how he or she intends to get it back on track.<\/p>\n The keys are #3 and #4.\u00a0 You\u2019ve got to find a disciplined approach to getting progress reports on assigned tasks, and you\u2019ve got to offer a reaction to those reports so your champion knows his or her project still has your attention.\u00a0 What if the feedback mechanism stops working . . . that is, meetings or written reports get skipped . . . and the boss (that would be you) doesn\u2019t say anything about it.\u00a0 If feedback gets sporadic or even stops altogether and the boss doesn\u2019t even notice, the champion concludes his or her task is no longer important, and so it goes on the shelf and is forgotten.<\/p>\n The bad news is, this 4-step process does take a little more time and effort than throwing down a lightning bolt and forgetting about it.\u00a0 The good news is, if you follow the four steps rigorously and with discipline, your important projects will be completed successfully, and in a timely manner.\u00a0 And as a bonus, your people will learn accountability and embrace it as a part of your culture.\u00a0 I\u2019d say that\u2019s a pretty good ROI for your investment of time and effort.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Our last posting talked about BHAGs (Big Hairy Audacious Goals) and we asked, \u201cWhat\u2019s Your New Year\u2019s BHAG?\u201d\u00a0 But achieving a BHAG is just like keeping a New Year\u2019s resolution: it\u2019s all in the execution.\u00a0 It\u2019s all in the doing.\u00a0 It\u2019s one thing to dream up a BHAG, it\u2019s quite another to put the wheels<\/p>\n