It’s January 2023.
The first days of the new work year are normally the time of year when managers make plans and resolutions for the year ahead – what they’d like to achieve at work for themselves and their employees; what new projects they wish to launch and accomplish; what old habits they want to discard.
New notebooks are unveiled, and the first pages are pristinely filled with plans, goals and To Dos. As the weeks and months go by, the first few pages are promptly forgotten. Real world takes over, you’re fighting fires, and the notebook pages are scribbled all over. Before you know it, the end of the year arrives, and you look longingly at the pages created at the start of the year and you wonder where the time went. Does this sound familiar to you?
If past years have taught you anything, success and productivity at work is not determined in the beginning of the year, or within the first few pages of the notebook. Instead, it’s a process of continuous improvement that requires managers to constantly evaluate their actions, ways of working, progress and mindsets.
Don’t lose sight of reality
While it’s not wrong to have a vision and plans for the year ahead, don’t lose sight of reality. Here are some tips to having a successful and productive year:
- Set regular reminders in your calendar to check your progress against the plans you created in the beginning of the year. Are you on track, further ahead, or have they fallen by the wayside?
- Make your plans SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, time-based). You’ll want to set plans and goals that you can work towards, not struggle with
- Tie your goals and plans to your development and targets for the year, and if possible, to your employees’ targets.
- If certain goals and plans are successfully reached in the middle of the year, go ahead and make new ones. There’s no rule that says goals can only be set at the beginning of the year.
Be kind to yourself and your employees
How your year shapes up – and how productive and successful it will be – is up to you. Unless you have a super-accurate crystal ball, you will never be able to predict what will knock your plans off course. While visions and plans are definitely needed for success, remember to be kind to yourself and to your employees.
Take things in your stride, plan how you’re going to get back on course, revisit your plans, and keep going.
The Middle Manager team wishes you Productivity and Success in 2023!