It’s the End of First Quarter. Have You Accomplished Your Goals?

It’s hard to believe isn’t it but the first quarter is quickly slipping away and April is on the horizon. It feels like just yesterday we were making our goals for the year ahead and here we are, one quarter in.

So, where do you stand? I know I don’t have to remind you that time flies, and so you don’t want another quarter to go by without taking a close look at what is happening in your business; the good, the bad and the ugly.

Do these things whether you think you have reached your goals or fallen behind:

1. Assess Where You Stand and Evaluate What’s Working and What’s Not Working

It makes sound business sense to do a monthly assessment of where you stand in regard to the goals that you established. Ask yourself:

• What have I accomplished?
• Have I fallen behind or am I right where I need to be?
• Were my goals too aggressive or perhaps too conservative?
• With the perspective of time, was what I put into motion in January achievable?
• Do we have the resources in place to keep things moving in the right direction or do we need to evaluate our human resources and/or implementation plan?

2. Determine if You Need to Revise Your Goals

Three months in and you might be facing a very different business environment from the one that was in place in January. Do you need to revise your goals to accommodate these changes and better position yourself for success in 2019? How quickly can you re-engineer?

3. Evaluate Your Team and Outside Resources 

All businesses rely on their internal employees and external resources to help them accomplish their goals. At the end of the first quarter, it is good to look closely at both and determine if you have the right internal and external resources in place to help get you to the finish line. Whether you need to replace certain resources or increase your human capital, it is best to decide this soon so that you will have adequate time to make these changes.

If you do these three things you will have clarity about the year so far and be in a better position to move forward into Q2 and beyond. Don’t waste time and run the risk of being in the position of doing a little, too late.