Know And Communicate Your Annual Calendar

by Jonathan Jones

As the leader of your organization and main example of your culture, you lead the performance of the organization. Before your new year begins, you should have a formal plan in place and be ready to communicate it at the beginning of the year.

Consider creating a team-based tool in coordination with your department leaders during December or before your fiscal year-end. Start with a quarterly view and then break it down by month.

Ask yourself the following questions and place the items on a master calendar in draft form:

* Which quarters or months are your busiest months?
* What are the best months for targeted marketing?
* What is your sales cycle?
* What internal and external forces impact it?
* When are the most important times for marketing for prospects?
* When do you schedule strategic planning with your executive team?
* When do your employees take vacation, and is there an impact on your
customers or productivity when they do?
* When is prime hiring season, or when is a time for seasonal employees to be transitioned out?
* When are performance reviews done?
* When do you provide training for you and your employees?

Place the most important meetings, events and deadlines on a master calendar. Make adjustments based on your customers and prospects calendars. Consider distributing items such as performance reviews throughout the months rather than keeping them as annual items.
When you are comfortable with the calendar, share it with your team. Your team should be aware of quarterly and yearly expectations and have timely communication, meetings, and accountability for success and failure. This planning process should evolve and be repeated annually.

Jonathan Jones (Jonathan.jones@vistagechair.com or 314-608-0783) is a CEO peer group chair/coach for Vistage International.