When a ship is sailing in open waters, the captain uses several tools to know which direction to go to not get off track of the destination. Even the smallest adjustment of the rudder over time could result in the ship being off course by hundreds of miles.
This is what happens when business owners don’t the take time to have an annual meeting to evaluate the direction their business is headed. If they neglect to look at the big picture, it’s easy to get caught up in the weeds of the business, and experience burnout.
Today, let’s see how your annual meeting can effectively create your business map for next year.
Why Business Plans Fail:
“Well Judy, I’ve tried having business meetings before and it just didn’t get anywhere.”
I get it. With years of working in corporate America under my belt, I’ve attended those meetings where the purpose of the meeting is to rehash the same issues the company has talked about for months or even years but haven’t been resolved.
So why are they going in circles? Well,
- Miscommunication
- Dysfunctional goal setting
- Lack of accountability
- Lack of documented processes
- and Dissension on the leadership team
…are just a few reasons.
When these are out of alignment, you run into issues not getting resolved, and your team is frustrated. So how do you run a meeting that gets you somewhere?
How to Run a Successful Annual Meeting:
- Anchor – Where Are You Now?: Stop the ship, you need to see where you’re going. Finding your starting place is the only way to track where you’re going and avoid running into any unseen ice burgs.
- Compass – Where Are You Going?: Check your compass, your BHAG. Is the work you’re doing now getting you closer and closer to achieving your BHAG? By measuring your progress against your BHAG, it’s easy to see what work is moving you forward.
- Sail – How Will You Get There?: Readjust your coordinates. Now is the time to start taking action in your newly adjusted direction. The way to do this is to create achievable measurables that you can crush over the year, broken up into quarterly, monthly, and weekly goals.
If this sounds daunting to you, feeling unsure how to plan and execute a successful annual meeting, it just so happens to be my specialty, so reach out to me if you’d like to map out the future of your business together. Start your 2024 year strong!
~Judy