There’s no question that some leaders and their teams cringe when they think of planning. But planning can certainly be a positive, productive experience. What’s more, it doesn’t have to steal all your time, energy and passion for your job, especially when in the throes of projecting, developing annual plans, and budgeting for the year ahead.

Here are some pearls of planning wisdom to help you better grasp the value of planning.

Avoid thinking of planning as a one-off event. Get in the practice of planning daily in ways that are simple and doable for you. At the end of the day, write down your top three goals for the next day. Bam! With that list, you’ve got a mini-plan and simply the act of writing it down increases your odds of achieving it. Over time, this little habit reprograms how you approach your work (proactive versus reactive). It creates a mindset that embraces regular planning, even on the smallest scale, and recognizes that it starts with you.

Build accountability into your planning meetings. It’s not just about assigning different team members various roles and responsibilities tied to planning events. You must hold regular team meeting that efficiently and effectively build consensus around goals, strategies and whatever other activities create sustainable results. Need help with this process? Since 1960, MAP Consulting has been teaching leaders how to design a proven planning practice and execute plans using the MAP Management System™.

Remove the planning roadblocks. This could be a shortage of time. An inconsistent approach. Or the wrong people in the room. Whatever is preventing solid planning, surface it, face it and develop a solution to address it. Why? Because life is 2/3 planning and 1/3 delivery. And the same concept applies to business. The sooner you shift your focus and build a proven discipline around planning, the sooner you’ll boost productivity and experience new levels of goal achievement. Truly disciplined leaders know how to acknowledge their planning shortcomings and overcome them with a solid working plan.

Ready to take business planning to the next level? Get there faster and drive breakthrough results with MAP’s planning tools, business coaches and the MAP Management System™. Contact us today!