Getting the Job Done

It's been three weeks since my last post - and it only seems like yesterday! Mulling over why this is, I realised that I've fallen into a trap I've been reminding my clients not to fall into. At the point when I was posting the blog weekly, I had a number of things in place: a schedule for posting, with regular weekly deadlines; someone to kick ideas around with and help me produce the copy; and a marketing coach who held me to my commitments. Small wonder I was able to keep to the schedule!

Twice in the last week, we've found ourselves with clients who have assumed that having a new, clear vision of what they want will by itself ensure the outcome. We find ourselves repeatedly encouraging them to create an infrastructure to make sure their new commitments actually happen. Depending on the complexity of the task, this should include planning: anything from a 'to-do' list, to a Gantt chart, to a full set of 30, 60 and 90-day business plans. Then you need support - a team to share the work and come up with the ideas. And it's a great idea also to have a coach or mentor - not someone you call up when it all goes wrong, but someone with whom you have regular, scheduled calls, and who you empower to call you to account.

Then and only then can you avoid the horror of suddenly waking up to the realisation that three weeks, or six months, or another year has gone by, and nothing has changed!

Why do we resist planning and holding ourselves to explicit deadlines? Tell us what you think and what your solutions are!