Photo Credit: Isaac Smith on Unsplash

And so another quarter comes to an end. The strangest quarter most probably in many of our lives! We are in the middle of a global pandemic due to Covid-19, a virus that started with one infection has changed the world as we currently know it and the history books forever.

The end of each quarter is time to look back and reflect on how things went in the past quarter and plan for the quarter ahead. The Covid 19 pandemic may have been unexpected and unprecedented but with so much change and the global situation continuously evolving it is more important than ever to review Q1 and plan for Q2 professionally and personally.

Firstly I hope you and your loved ones are safe and you are using this time of solitude, self isolation, social distancing etc to benefit and enrich your life in whatever way you can.

Having a business and personal strategy is all about creating an amazing sustainable business and creating a fulfilled, purposeful and meaningful life. Your business and personal strategy is only as good as the reviews you do and the changes you make as a result of these reviews.

When it comes to business and personal strategy and the goals you have set, the quarterly review can be the most important. It certainly is my favourite review because it’s a full review of my strategy, it’s a deep dive into progress of goals and there is way more progress quarterly than can be seen daily, weekly and monthly which is always motivating. As humans we are wired to perform better when we are making progress which is why strategy reviews are so important. You may not think you are making progress but you are probably making much more progress than you think!

Ideally you are reviewing progress of your business and personal goals daily, weekly and monthly which makes your quarterly review easier, more streamlined and more effective,

Here are 6 simple steps to carry out your quarterly review:

Ideally this review is carried out as you approach the end of a quarter so that plans/goals are in place for the next quarter as it begins or very shortly after,

1. Review your business and personal goals, review the metrics you use to indicate progress and the progress itself

• Are your goals still relevant? This has never been more important given the changes that have happened to business’s and our personal lives since the start of 2020. Are the goals you set at the start of 2020 still meaningful and achievable?
• Do your goals still align with your business/personal vision and your values? Two things to note here. Firstly, if you don’t have a vision and if you don’t know your values for your business and your life, now would be a good time to start thinking about evaluating these. It is never too late to set a vision for your business and life. No matter who you are, where you are in terms of your business and life,  your circumstances or how old you are –  it is never too late to make positive change and that starts with a vision. Secondly, if you do have a vision and values, do your goals still align to these? Your vision and values are your ‘North Star’ of which everything in your business and life aligns to.
• Have you the correct metrics in place? Are you measuring the right things? Are your metrics at the right level? Do your metrics highlight progress and also highlight obstacles to progress?
• How much progress on your goals have you made in this quarter? Have your reached your targets? Have you made as much progress as you set out to make? Have you enjoyed the progress made or has it been an uphill struggle? Have you over stretched or under stretched yourself?

My 2020 goals changed dramatically due to the Covid-19 pandemic. I was due to travel to Japan in May to join Katie Anderson and other Lean enthusiasts on Katie’s Lean Study Trip. This is disappointing but health and safety are the most important things at the moment and so Japan will be go into my future plans.

2. Evaluate what worked in terms of your goals, how were you successful?

• What worked for you in the past 3 months?
• What did you do that enabled this success?
• What areas of your strategy were successful?

3. Evaluate what didn’t work in terms of your goals, what got in the way of success?

• What didn’t work for you and what got in the way of your goals in the past 3 months?
• How did you deal with and overcome these obstacles?
• What areas of your strategy were not as successful as you would have liked?

I find some areas of my strategy are successful, things I really like doing always seem to get done! I also find I continue to struggle with other areas, these are things I know I need to do but maybe can find excuses/reasons/ways out to not do them! It’s all about balance!

4. Make informed decisions about what your key focus areas for the next quarter

Based on the answers to all of the above, what action will you take for the next 3 months? My plan for Q2 2020 is drastically different to what I had planned at the beginning of the year as I’m sure is the case for everyone across the world. Focus on the positives and what you can do to remain aligned to the business and life you want by asking the following questions,

• Are your goals still achievable taking into consideration progress made in the last quarter and the (still unknown) outcome from the global pandemic we find ourselves in?
• Do you need more goals to stretch yourself or do you need to focus on less goals as you haven’t made as much progress as you would have liked?
• Are there goals that no longer serve you?
• What are your priority goals for the next 3 months?
• What are your non priority goals for the next 3 months?
• What will you do to continue progress in successful areas of your business/life?
• What will you do to learn from and turn around unsuccessful areas of your business/life?
• How will you measure progress of your goals in the next 3 months?
• What metrics will you change?
• How often will you update these metrics?

5. Capture all of the above somewhere

It’s really important to capture your goals and progress on your goals somewhere. Whether you prefer physically putting pen to paper or to use something electronic there are so many options. The science behind why writing things down to enable success is outlined in the amazing book, ‘Write It Down, Make It Happen’. My tools of choice are below,

• Physical – I love Moleskine journals for writing down goals, tracking progress of goals and journalling. Moleskine journals are colourful, hard wearing, long lasting journals of the highest quality. They can be a little pricey but for me they are worth it! I also use regular notebooks that you can get in any book shop/supermarket for note taking and ideas. It doesn’t really matter what you use from once you write your goals down and track progress daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly that will, at the end of the year, result in your Annual Review.
• Online – My tools of choice online are Google Docs, Google Sheets and Asana. These 3 tools are all free and very easy to use and are all you need to set and track goals/projects/strategy. Natalie Sisson who introduced me to Asana has created an excellent guide on ‘How To Use Asana’. I use the free version which is perfect for my needs.

6. Learn more about business and personal strategy 

The longer I work in business and personal strategy the less I feel I know! There is always another level of strategy to move into and there is always so much to learn.

• If you are looking for a book on Lean Business Strategy, I highly recommend ‘Getting The Right Things Done’ by Pascal Dennis and really any other books by Pascal Dennis. Getting The Right Things Done is an incredible book that can be visited again and again as you move deeper and deeper into the world of business strategy and success.
• One of my favourite thought leaders in the area of personal strategy and development is Brendon Burchard. There is no end to the amount of resources Brendon has online. If you want to learn more about personal strategy and personal development, I highly recommend signing up to Brendon’s mailing list. Here are some excellent videos from Brendon on goal setting for success,

New Year Goals for Winning in Life in 2020

Power of Monthly Goals (How to Schedule Your Year)

I hope you and your families are safe and well. I wish you success, health and happiness as you look back at Q1 and even more success, health and happiness as you look forward to Q2,

Thanks for reading,

Siobhain

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