When building a strategy, always have a desired outcome in mind. What do you hope to accomplish? What is the goal of this meeting, this project, or this initiative? What does success look like and how will you know if you’ve accomplished it?
Too often, we get caught up in the ‘if you’re not busy you’re not doing anything’ mentality. Projects start off with good intentions and don’t return the results we expect because the desired outcome is unclear or not defined well enough.
This step in the planning process is critical. With competing priorities and stakeholders, it’s very easy to get sidetracked or even have a project mutate in a different direction entirely. By having a firm outcome in mind, you can choose the right strategy and tactics to help you achieve your intended result.
Changing direction is much easier and cheaper during the planning phase than execution, making it important to take time to prepare and think the situation through ahead of time.
Finally, as you execute, continue to draw focus back to the desired outcome to ensure you are making timely progress and the project is delivering on your predefined goals.