New Year--New Strategy...or Just Some Help?

Work out more, spend less money, be nicer to colleagues, grow your business—If you are like most, January is filled with the usual thoughts of self and business improvement.  

Unfortunately most of these self-help ideas don’t make it through the Super Bowl. It’s not laziness or lack of self control, but rather our busy schedules and routines overcome our desire for growth and we fall back into the same bad habits.

Don’t let this be the case with your personal brand or communication efforts. Take the time to do the traditional new year self reflection, set goals for the next twelve months and then do something different...ask for help.

Below is a short exercise to help you decide if you are on track, if changes are warranted or if help is needed.

Ask yourself or your team the following questions:

How and why you communicate...is there room for improvement?

Revalidate the assumptions and lines of effort in your strategy...identify the “say do gap” before others do.

Assess how you did last year...audiences reached, measures of performance

Identify where you can do better or what you no longer want to do, what you want to expand...always room for improvement.

What are your goals for the next year...status quo, growth, narrative change?

Your communication strategy and organizational goals for the next year must match. If they don’t, it’s time for a change.

Actions and level of effort should be strategy-driven. Even the most capable organizations are guilty of letting tactics or the latest trends drive their effort. Being edgy or trying something different is smart, but audiences quickly recognize the difference between “kitch” and “innovation.”

If change is necessary, seldom do you have time to call timeout or shake the etch a-sketch and start completely over. Understanding how to make incremental change in manageable chunks will allow you to make progress without being disruptive or going dark.

Is my bench deep enough to carry out our strategy...where could additional help make a difference?

Don’t do this by yourself...find others who can give you a “check-up” and identify where improvement or changes can be made.

Deciding if your priorities are correct and lines of effort are effective can be hard if not impossible to do by yourself...especially if you don’t have the right metrics. No one likes to get negative feedback, especially from outsiders, but hearing where you can improve before it detracts from the mission or bottomline is a necessary evil. The best communicators seek feedback and are able to move on sensible suggestions without feeling inferior.

Most companies want to sell you a permanent solution. They want to you to become forever dependant on their advice or workforce. That’s not helpful or in most cases practical. Look for outside assistance that can provide you quick and actionable input, moves the needle and then leaves you and your team better. Ideally you build a relationship so when you need that help it's only a quick call away. Be leary of groups that try to sell instead of improve.

Good luck in 2019 and if our team at Provision Advisors can be of help, please drop us a line. We’d welcome the chance to help you reach your goals.