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When new senior executives are appointed, they often talk about their 90-day plan. They want to make sure that they have some concrete achievements in their first three months so that they build commitment and momentum.

But what about the next 90 days, and the 90 days after that. Why do so few of these executives have a follow-up plan?

I believe that 90-day plans are superior to annual plans. After all, three months is long enough to make real progress on a few priorities but short enough to know that you need to get going – now! What’s more a series of 90-day plans enables you to flex your resources to changing circumstances in the delivery of your most important goals.

I accept that some activities have to be planned for months and years, but most don’t, and a series of 90-day plans builds greater levels of progress and speed of delivery than traditional annual plans.

When I worked with Boots the Chemists, for example, the UK retailer created organizational momentum – and sales growth of around 3% – on the back of a three-month focus on improving stock availability in its stores. This initiative allowed the company to deliver rapid, material and sustainable profit improvement in just 90 days, and formed the basis for further growth.

What focused 90-day plan could you establish for your business to step-change its growth and to fast-forward the delivery of its strategy?

 

© Stuart Cross 2016. All rights reserved.