Think about how much you’ve achieved in the past 12 months. Now look at all of that progress and imagine how long it would have taken to map it out in advance and how much of it would have been completely unpredictable this time last year. Although many businesses tend to work on a 12 month schedule when it comes to planning, this kind of timeline is actually far too long. Instead, breaking planning down into a 90-day time process is the most effective way to steer progress and growth.

The need to be responsive

If you’ve planned a full 12 months ahead then you might find it difficult to respond to changes in your industry – or the business itself – as they arise. Change management is essential for successful business and being able to shift direction or make different choices based on emerging conditions will make the business much more agile and successful. 90-day planning enables responsiveness without feeling like you’re constantly in flux.

Less time spent planning, more time spent doing

Of course planning is essential for business growth. However, a 12 month plan can take up a vast amount of time that could be spent adding much more value elsewhere. A 90-day plan is simpler to structure and will provide focus for the next three months without requiring a lot of time investment to create it.

Just the right number

Planning on a 90-day schedule will give you the opportunity to regularly review progress and to make adjustments going forward, as opposed to having to engage with a time-consuming overhaul at the end of every year. It is exactly the right amount of time for analysing and identifying patterns in the business without losing sight of the bigger picture.

How to approach 90-day planning

The simplest way to look at this type of planning cycle is as a schedule of setting goals, reviewing them and then integrating adjustments when you define the next set of goals.

1. Start by looking at the goals that you have set yourself for a 12 month period and narrow this down to 10 key objectives.

2. From there reduce the number of goals down to five, ensuring that at least three of them are focused on generating revenue. Make sure you’re using the SMART system of goal setting when you’re defining these five objectives – this requires that they are Specific, Measurable, Acceptable, Realistic and Time-bound.

3. Once you’ve defined those five goals for the next 90-days then work out in detail what steps are required to take you from where you are now to the point at which the goal has been reached. Make sure that these goals apply to the entire business and not just to senior management. Who in the business is going to take responsibility for ensuring the goal is achieved and setting a completion date for it?

4. As you reach the end of the 90-day period, review the goals against performance, adjust, set new goals and begin again.

There is something out of date and inefficient about using a 12 month planning cycle. For those businesses keen to be truly agile and growth-orientated, whether an SME or a large enterprise, 90-day planning provides a clear path to success. Get in touch today for more advice about how to start 90-day planning for your business.