It’s the first week of March AND we here at Online Business Manager.com have 80% of Quarter 2 and Quarter 3 already laid out in our PM tool (Central Desktop) for all arms of Tina Forsyth Companies.
Jealous?
Well don’t be… just do it for yourself. Honestly it’s a very simply process:
- Create a solid strategy for all product creation, marketing, offerings/services for the next 6 months. This is the WHAT and it comes from your client.
- Put a plan together on HOW you are going to deliver on the strategy you created
- Task out the plan in your project management tool so you can manage WHEN it will be accomplished … every detail of every aspect of the plan
- Lead your team to implement based on the tasks assigned to them (WHO)
This cycle is by far the number one tool we use here with Tina Forsyth Companies to keep up with the onslaught of moving parts, projects and tasks.
However, when I coach OBM’s on doing this with the businesses they manage this is what I hear the most:
“How do you find time to do that, I can barely keep up as it is with all the day to day!”
The truth is that is an accurate statement, you (nor I) can keep up with a business that is in ‘runaway mode’. Which can often happen with online service providers. So what to do?
First, prioritize the time to have a solid strategy in place (strategy means you always know: What, How, When, Who) for every aspect of the business operations, marketing, deliverables. If you aren’t clear on the strategy (or the WHAT as we like to call it) then you need to ask your client. Although you can certainly contribute to the strategy it is ultimately up to your client to decide what is being created… and as the OBM you need this information to move forward. So don’t be shy to “chase your client down” a little bit if need be. 😉
Second, once the strategy is complete schedule time in YOUR calendar to plan out the strategy down to every detailed task. At this time you may want to even schedule the processes that go with those task to ensure the process are being created along side the set up of the task.
Third, give clear deadlines to everything… you can’t manage what you do until you know when it is due 😉
Fourth, lead your team to be effective and productive in fulfilling the tasks with excellence!
Really, it is just that simple BUT you need to make this your priority. And yes, we get that it can be tough when you are knee deep in all the day-to-day, but I assure you once you make this shift and start to work from a plan you will find in just a few short months that you are no longer buried in the craziness.
Get off the CRAZY CYCLE and GET ON THE CYCLE OF SUCCESS!