A plan is as good as its implementation, right? So, follow up your plans often! Checking plan progress can keep you on track and teach you lots of valuable lessons. It is also a wonderful opportunity to celebrate successes and re-calibrate.
Follow Up Every Type of Plan
You make many plans throughout the year, both personally and professionally. A plan is the bridge between your dreams and reality. Your personal plans may include new year’s resolutions or household budgets. Professionally, your team may do strategic plans, operational plans, yearly budgets, teaching plans, treatment plans, project plans, etc. It’s important to follow up on all of them.
Follow Up With the People Who Made the Plan and Those Impacted by It
Include those impacted by the plan in your check-in exercise. Is it your personal new year’s resolution? Review it by yourself. Is it your organization’s strategic plan? Incorporate the team who drafted it. Also consider including your stakeholders to provide a client perspective.
Follow Up Often Enough to Make Adjustments
Decide how often you should check plan progress. My rule of thumb is to do so proactively enough to allow adjustments. Sometimes, it’s easier to determine when it would be “too late“. For example, I recommend my clients to follow up on their budgets monthly and strategic plans every quarter.
Gather Follow Up Input in Various Ways
Holding a check-in meeting is an excellent way to track plan progress. You can complement it with other ways to gather stakeholder feedback, such as:
Analyzing data
Sending a survey
Posing a check-in question through social media or email
Doing a focus group
Ask Key Questions
During check-in, ask yourself and the team these types of questions:
In which tasks are you following the plan?
In which tasks are you deviating from the plan?
What progress should you celebrate?
Where should you adjust?
Are your goals still the same?
What have you learned so far?
Overall, are you satisfied with your plan’s progress?
Use Follow Up Tools
Take advantage of the many existing tools to track plan implementation. They are often referred to as “productivity tools” or “project management tools”. These include apps such as Asana or classic exercises as priority lists or bulletin board brainstorming.
