As the calendar flips to the last quarter of the year, it’s the perfect time to revisit and readjust your personal and organizational strategy. The successes you have experienced and the obstacles you have avoided throughout the year equip you to reevaluate your strategic objectives and the resources at your disposal and ensure you win the year.
With changing industries, politics, and labor markets, how has your strategic landscape changed? How have these changes affected your ability to meet your strategic objectives?
Use this guide to revisit and revise the strategy you created at the beginning of the year and decide how to move forward to achieve your goals and finish the year strong.
1. Review how your strategic initiatives are going.
- What progress have you made?
- Are you where you wanted to be at this point in the year?
- What distractions or disruptions interfered with your strategy?
- Did you take all potential obstacles into account?
- What could you have done better between Q1 and Q3?
2. Take stock of new opportunities.
- What are some developments or changes that have occurred in your industry, profession, or team in the last nine months?
- Who are the partners you can share knowledge and insights with about your strategic progress?
- What new issues and opportunities have surfaced that you can take advantage of or avoid?
- What creative ideas do you have for how to adapt your strategy to ensure success by the year’s end?
- What do you need to do today to move ahead?
3. Look towards the future.
- How has your strategy evolved from the original strategic target set at the beginning of the year?
- Who will you need help and support from to sustain your strategy and maintain it through the end of the year?
- What backup plans are in place to avoid adverse scenarios?
- What are the key actions you should take over the next two weeks to ensure your strategy is moving forward?
- What are the key actions you should take over these last three months to meet your strategic target?
- What insights have you learned about the industry and your organization throughout the year to help you shape next year’s strategic target?
The best-laid plans do not always come to fruition, and it is impossible to account for all the variables at play. But by taking the time to revisit your strategic plans and objectives at this critical juncture, you still have time to pivot, adapt, and ultimately reach success.
If you need support in modifying your strategy or forming the critical mindset necessary to implement your strategy successfully, CMOE’s digital, self-paced Applied Strategic Thinking® course will support your development and aid you in thinking, planning, and acting more strategically to finish this year strong.
