Hatching plans can be exciting but sticking to them is something else. I think time lines are great for a ‘big picture’ commitment to what is going on. For accountability you need something that boils those goals into actions for the month you are in right now.
A plan for the month should hold all areas of your business to account (even if you are not directly involved in each area) so you maintain an overall view of how everything is working together (whihc keeps the master plan on track).
I have created a month plan template which I am happy to share. It fits with my very large time line template. Just drop me an email and I will send one over. Any feedback is great. These things always need to be tweaked to suit you.
The Schedule Planner pro app integrates with iOS calendar and Google calendars. Takes a while to set up but charts are always a lovely way to see where your time and focus is going.
The Agatha Christy Sea Swim took place on September 18th raising money for the Devon Air Ambulance. One mile out to sea and back is a long way (especially if you don’t have your glasses on).
Once there was a man who built a business. A wonderful machine with products going in and happy customers coming out. As it grew, he bolted on staff and added cogs and levers to keep things working.
But as it got busier, it started to groan and over-heat, occasionally churning out an unhappy customer. He patched parts with over-time and oiled creaky bits with finance. His staff worked hard but the whole thing didn’t work well together. Caught up in the workings of the business, it was hard to see where it was headed and he was exhausted.
What did the machine need to do?
What direction did he want to take the machine?
Who and what was needed to make the machine work better?
Alison explained that it was the man’s employees who made up the engine of his business. Putting parts in the right order was key to his business running well.
Service design are buzz words that are gaining a lot of interest from various fields. It is an exciting movement bringing together a whole range of disciplines to co-create user-centered solutions. The boundaries between products and services are blurring and it is time for a different way of thinking.
Children’s book illustrator Lauren Tobia www.laurentobia.com put my ideas into brilliant pictures which was made into a film by Lizzie Tobia. I was really pleased with the end result. It is great to explain what you do in pictures.