If you’re like most of the world, you probably have a New Year’s Resolution. Maybe it’s one of these common ones from Corcentric’s blog post on the top New Year’s Resolutions. But what about in your business?
Here are 10 ways to ensure a successful year ahead:
1.) Take Time to Reflect
Evaluate your past four quarters and conduct an honest assessment of the actions you’ve taken to get closer to achieving your goals. Develop metrics for accountability and share them with your team, then have everyone participate in regular check-ins and updates.
Check out this helpful article, “Developing Personal Accountability: Taking Responsibility to Get Ahead” on the website MindTools.com.
2.) Create a Calendar and Stick to It
Regardless of company size, honoring the time your stakeholders invest into team objectives is key to staying informed and maintaining morale. Sticking to a calendar also lessens the temptation to procrastinate and helps boost productivity.
Not everyone is a natural when it comes to time management. Communication, knowing when to step back or move onto a new task, and delegation don’t come easily to all of us. For some pointers, read this article from TheGuardian.com titled “Top Time Management Tips for Busy Entrepreneurs.”
3.) Hire Great Talent
A fresh set of eyes and a unique perspective can help you evaluate your business and create a new plan and direction. Visit theJDMK Consulting blog for tips on developing and hiring into company culture and what to look for in a candidate, by John Politsky.
4.) Adjust Your Focus
Success is not about taking quantum leaps, but doing the little things day after day that together compound to achieve greatness.The law of attraction says that what you focus on grows. Acclaimed business mogul and best-selling author Jeff Olson believes in staying hungry, staying grounded, and staying focused, even when you’re already successful.
It’s easy to get overwhelmed and distracted – sometimes just showing up is half the battle. Once you’re there, do things to help yourself focus. Whether you turn on music or turn off your internet connection, like Kristin Haas in her blog post for JDMK, titled “How Do You Focus During Crunch Time?” or shut the door to your office and break out the old-school pen and paper, try to commit at least thirty minutes per day to focused activity.
5.) Become More Searchable and Know Your Market
You have to be as adaptable as your target audience. Assuming your brand and message will always resonate with the same group of people is a mistake. Brand awareness and visibility are achieved through a combination of consistent thought leadership, a good reputation, and actively promoting solutions to widespread needs.
Expertise is important in a world of massive digital consumption. Content marketing, search engine marketing, and website optimization are crucial to the long-term success of your brand. Check out Alicia Blackburn’s blog post for JDMK Consulting, titled “Creating an Actionable Persona,” for more tips on how to evaluate your target market.
6.) Take a Serious Look at Process Automation
It doesn’t matter which industry you’re in, it’s likely that you have departments that still rely heavily on tedious paper processes; like Accounts Payable, for example. Learn how to achieve greater compliance and boost your ROI with this AP Automation Guide from Corcentric.
Human Resources is another department which often faces efficiency challenges. Click here to view a brief video demonstration on Square 9’s Hire to Retire solution.
7.) Stay True to Your Company’s Identity
Our friend and partner, Gaylord Neal of Parmetech, Inc., advises “Always have an X-Factor that others don’t know (competitors, vendors, business partners). What is your X-Factor? You must figure this out and stay true to who you are.”
Neal also says, “Know what you are great at and become even better at it. Adopt strategies and concepts from other industries that have been successful.”
8.) Evaluate Your Information Governance Procedures
Learn the difference between ECM and Information Governance and start strategizing, immediately. This article, titled “ECM Isn’t Delivering,” by AIIM’s Chris Walker, offers insight into taking a hybrid approach to managing content.
Download our information security white paper for tips on bullet-proofing your business, and read this brief article titled “Less Paper, Less Stress,” by AIIM’s Dennis Kempner.
And stay in-the-know: Click here to read ARMA’s “Generally Accepted Recordkeeping Principles.”
9.) Form a Mastermind Group
Learn the difference between ECM and Information Governance and start strategizing, immediately. This article, titled “ECM Isn’t Delivering,” by AIIM’s Chris Walker, offers insight into taking a hybrid approach to managing content.
Download our information security white paper for tips on bullet-proofing your business, and read this brief article titled “Less Paper, Less Stress,” by AIIM’s Dennis Kempner.
And stay in-the-know: Click here to read ARMA’s “Generally Accepted Recordkeeping Principles.”
10.) Embrace Change
We’re all familiar with some of the most famous quotes about change, like the one from Tony Robbins that says “If you do what you always do, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten,” or Albert Einstein’s often-used “Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
Another one of our favorite quotes on change is from Gaylord Neal’s new book, “Building Your MultiMillion Dollar Empire – Growth Strategies That Work Even During a Recession.” Neal writes, “When real growth occurs, good and bad will begin to ooze out of your employees. As new ‘A’ talent is brought in to fuel the growth of the company, some established employees will have a hard time with the change. Change is necessary.”
It’s true: if you don’t embrace – and seek out – change within your organization, you’ll be faced with stagnation and a challenge to recreate momentum.
Wishing a very happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year to all of our friends, colleagues, and partners!