The Business Owner’s Accountant
E: admin@judsons.com.au | P: 07 3367 1994 | A: 20 Mayneview Street, Milton, Brisbane, Queensland 4064
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BUSINESS COACHING
November 2013 www.judsons.com.au
This week’s tip is based on a recent blog post from Patrick Thean from Gazelles Systems. While many Australian businesses will look to do their annual planning around a July-June year as it NBUDIFT UIFJS ü OBODJBM ZFBS JU BDUVBMMZ NBLFT NPSF TFOTF UP DPOTJEFS B +BOVBSZ-December year for planning purposes. Why? 8F UFOE UP ü OE UIBU CVTJOFTT PXOFST XJMM HFU NPSF JEFBT BOE CF GSFTI BGUFS B $ISJTUNBT #SFBL Energy levels that are necessary to create change are normally at a peak after holidays so January and February are good months to implement this change. Also if the usual economic activity is subdued yet you have all your people around you, it makes sense to try and implement some new things at this time of year without necessarily putting the business under pressure. Should you be interested in discussing the holding of an annual planning session with myself as facilitator, please do not hesitate to contact me. Kind regards, Ian Judson $FSUJü FE (B[FMMFT *OUFSOBUJPOBM $PBDI
Do You Have the Right Data and Insight for Your Upcoming Annual Planning? How do you prepare for your annual planning session? How do you get the best data and insights to maximize the outcome of your planning session? To get the best data and insights, consider asking team members in your organization - the closer to the frontline employees the better.
Tip 1: Get data and insights from the front lines. A typical mistake that larger growth companies make is not getting insights from employees who touch the customers. The problem is that sometimes at the executive team level, we don't know what we don't know. Lacking data and insight might cause us to develop plans for the New Year that miss amazing opportunities.
Tip 2: Get people heard early in your process. Often times, the reason team members don't seem bought into ideas is that they did not feel heard. You might have told them your plans, and they might have had the best intentions, yet misunderstandings occurred and mistakes happened. I have discovered that when people feel that their ideas have been properly shared and heard, it is easier to buy into ideas that were chosen that did not originate from them. I often hear "I don't mind executing someone else's great idea, as long as I know that mine was heard and properly considered, and my leaders made the best decision after considering all ideas."
So ask your team members the following questions to gather ideas and insights to consider as you review and work on your 3 to 5 year strategy during the annual planning meeting:
What are some strategies or ideas you think we should consider for our 3 year plan?
Are there any obstacles stopping the progress of our current strategies?
Are there any adjustments we should make to our current stated strategies?
Consider asking these questions to help you develop a great execution plan for next year:
What are the top 3 most important things to accomplish next year? And why?
What are the top 3 things that we should stop doing? That adds little to no value?
What are the top 3 things that are working well that we should keep doing next year?
Tip 3: Invite guests who can add value. Who should attended the annual planning session? Most times we automatically think it's our executive team. Yes, and who else? If you are discussing topics that need expertise that your team does not have, consider inviting other team members who might have that knowledge. They don't have to be promoted to the executive team to attend. Just share with them that you are exploring a topic that needs their help, and invite them to come, share their knowledge, and work with your executive team to develop the best plan for the company.
BUSINESS COACHING TIP
October 2013 www.judsons.com.au
Planning Your Living Legacy By Verne Harnish “Growth Guyâ€? and Ian Judson Ian: Earlier in September, I attended Verne Harnish’s “Go for Growthâ€? workshop in Brisbane as PSHBOJTFE CZ UIF (SPXUI 'BDVMUZ "U UIF XPSLTIPQ UIF BVEJFODF XBT FYQPTFE GPS UIF ĂĽ STU UJNF UP Verne’s “Me: Living Legacyâ€? Tool. This tool creates a nice linkage between the setting of your professional or business goals and your personal goals. As business owners, it is strongly advised to pay just as much attention to your personal goals as your business goals. In my business coaching when using the Rockefeller habits material, many of you would have been made familiar with the Four DecisionsTM framework where the key decisions for a business can be put into four categories: People, Strategy, Execution and Cash. In a personal goal setting context, and using the Me: Living Legacy tool, the key decisions are Relationships, Achievements, Rituals and Wealth. It is no coincidence that these four areas match nicely with the focus of the business goals. 4IPVME ZPV XJTI UP ĂĽ OE PVU NPSF JOGPSNBUJPO XJUI SFHBSET UP UIF VTF PG UIF UPPM GFFM GSFF UP contact me. Verne: People often joke that the best moments of boat ownership are the day they bought the boat and the day they sold it. There are similar punctuation marks in our lives—the day we’re born and the day we pass away. As busy executives, if we’re not careful, our personal lives can end up as neglected as those vessels, forever docked in the harbor (or parked in storage!). I’m a big believer in building a living legacy. Your life will be more meaningful if you treat every day as if it was your last and, instead of rushing from one obligation to another, you proactively establish personal priorities and align them with your professional goals. As readers of this column know, there are four decisions you must make to build a thriving company: People, Strategy, Execution and Cash. In your personal life, there are parallel areas: Relationships, Achievements, Rituals and Wealth. Commit to writing your goals in these four areas, just as you weave the Four Decisions into your business plan. To guide you in creating a personal one-page plan, here’s a link to a “ME: Living Legacyâ€? tool. (http://www.gazelles.com/people-livinglegacy.html). We have also attached the PDF on page 3.
RELATIONSHIPS "U UIF FOE PG UIF EBZ XIBU NBUUFST NPTU JO MJGF BSF SFMBUJPOTIJQT 5IF ĂĽ STU TUFQ JO VTJOH UIF -JWJOH Legacy tool is to list the key people in your life on whom you want to have a lasting impact. *O CVTJOFTT ZPV IBWF B USFNFOEPVT PQQPSUVOJUZ UP JOĂ˝ VFODF ZPVS FNQMPZFFT PS DVTUPNFST *O ZPVS personal life, the important people in your life will likely include your family, your friends, and those in the various communities to which you belong. Limit the list to 25 people, so you don’t get overwhelmed. At the same time, there may be some people in your life who are destructive and/or distract you from your higher goals. There’s a space on the form where you can note relationships you want to end. Doing so is important, so you can free time for the people who matter most to you. ACHIEVEMENTS .BOZ $&0T ĂĽ OE UIBU FWFO XIFO UIFZ SFBDI DSJUJDBM NJMFTUPOFT GPS HSPXJOH UIFJS DPNQBOZ UIFZ GFFM they haven’t made a real difference in the world. The achievements section of the Living Legacy tool can pave the way to a more meaningful life. Think about the major ways you’d like to make an impact through your work beyond reaching monetary goals—perhaps by mentoring others or TFUUJOH VQ B OPOQSPĂĽ U PSHBOJ[BUJPO PS QSP CPOP JOJUJBUJWF—and set objectives in these key areas. In your personal life, you’ll want to think about how you can make a real difference to the key people in your life. For instance, you might aim to have a happy marriage, instead of just staying married, as many people do. Signing on to facilitate the 5-year strategic plan for our children’s school was something I enjoyed prioritizing this past six months. RITUALS Establishing regular routines in your life will help you achieve your larger goals. Examples of rituals might include a weekly date night with your spouse and booking some “aloneâ€? time with each child once a week. For distant family members, you might build a regular routine, like taking a vacation together every two years. You might also want to establish rituals with people whose presence in your life supports your bigger goals. Meeting regularly with a workout buddy, for instance, can help you maintain good health—something that’s important to achieving any goals you set. Like destructive relationships, there might be some bad habits or behaviors you wish to stop – list those as well. WEALTH 3BUIFS UIBO ĂĽ OBODJBM XFBMUI CFJOH BO FOE JO JUTFMG TFF JU BT B SFTPVSDF GPS TVQQPSUJOH UIF SFTU PG your personal plan. Set goals for the amount of money you want to donate to causes that matter to you. Decide what you need to set aside to support activities with your family and friends, investing in experiences that create lasting memories. In the cash section of the Living Legacy document, ZPV MM XBOU UP NBLF OPUF PG BOZ ĂĽ OBODJBM HPBMT ZPV NVTU NFFU UP GVFM ZPVS MJWJOH MFHBDZ "OE XIFO ZPV MFU NPOFZ Ă˝ PX UISPVHI ZPV UP IFMQ UIPTF BSPVOE ZPV JU TFFNT UP BQQFBS NPSF FGGPSUMFTTMZ It’s not easy to do this type of planning, but just getting yourself to think about what matters most is 90% of the battle. You want to make sure that what you leave in the wake of your life as you sail along is a legacy worth living.
Me: Living Legacy Living Legacy:
Date:
Name:
Achievements
Rituals
Wealth ($)
Start
Start
Start
Start
Stop
Stop
Stop
Stop
Finance
Fitness
Friends
Family
Faith
Relationships
Copyright 2011 Gazelles, Inc.
Need help implementing this plan? Visit www.gazelles.com or contact Cindy Praeger at 704-996-0399 to learn about Gazelles Coaching Services .
BUSINESS COACHING TIP
July 2013 www.judsons.com.au
Dear All, For this month’s coaching tip, I refer to a recent blog article by Patrick Thean, CEO of Gazelles Systems. Should you want to know more about effective communication and meeting rhythms feel free to contact me to discuss some suggestions.
Really? Did I Say That? 6 Tips to Communicate Well in Crucial Meetings Leading to Great Execution - Listen Instead of Respond We live in a P2P (People To People) world, yet often times it feels like we live in a T2T (Tech To Tech) world or a D2D (Device To Device) world. Yeah - get my device to text your device and set up a chat instead of a meeting. As we depend more and more on our devices, we slowly forget how to DPNNVOJDBUF XIFO XF ĂĽ OBMMZ EP HFU JOUP B meeting. Wow! A meeting? Really? You mean like with real people talking instead of us thumb-typing on our devices? *U JT TP FBTZ UP NJTDPNNVOJDBUF XIFO XF ĂĽ OBMMZ HFU UPHFUIFS JO B NFFUJOH )FSF BSF UJQT UP DMFBSFS and stronger communication:
1) Begin with the Objective of the Meeting. So easy to do, yet so easy to forget to do! It is so easy to rush into a meeting, and get going. Begin every meeting by stating the objective of the meeting. What do we want to accomplish as a team in this meeting? I have found that beginning the meeting with "We will be successful if‌" gets everyone on the same page and focused on the right task at hand. A client recently shared that at the end of a meeting, he said "So, the objective of this meeting really was‌" Clearly, it would have been better to begin with that instead of end with that.
2) Be Present. Remember to clear your mind and focus on listening. It is very common to have the previous thing that you were working on lingering in your mind. You might be multi-tasking without realising it, USZJOH UP ĂĽ OJTI VQ XIBU ZPV XFSF XPSLJOH PO BOE POMZ QBZJOH QBSUJBM BUUFOUJPO JO UIF NFFUJOH Mental multi-tasking does not work. Instead of accomplishing both tasks, you might be compromising both tasks. Take a deep breath, clear your mind, focus and be 100% present at the meeting. If you are facilitating the meeting, it would be helpful to remind everyone to take a deep breath and be 100% present at this meeting.
3) Listen Instead of Respond. *G ZPV BSF USZJOH UP ĂĽ HVSF PVU XIBU UP TBZ PS IPX UP SFTQPOE UIFSF JT B HPPE DIBODF UIBU ZPV XJMM mis-hear and not get the true message that the person is trying to communicate. Slow down the pace of the meeting and listen without framing your response. Use statements like "Ok, give me a few seconds to respond" to give yourself some time to think and respond after the last person shared his or her idea.
4) .JSSPS UP $POü SN XIBU ZPV )FBSE 5IJT UFDIOJRVF XPSLT FTQFDJBMMZ XFMM FTQFDJBMMZ XIFO EJTDVTTJOH EJGü DVMU UPQJDT PS FNPUJPOBMMZDIBSHFE UPQJDT 3FQFBU CBDL XIBU ZPV UIJOL ZPV IFBSE UP DPOü SN UIBU ZPV VOEFSTUPPE 5IF GPMMPXJOH QISBTFT DBO IFMQ ZPV UP DPOü SN XIBU ZPV IFBSE "I believe you said‌" and repeat what you thought you heard the person say. * XBOU UP DPOü SN UIBU * VOEFSTUPPE ZPV XFMMy BOE TIBSF XIBU ZPV VOEFSTUPPE
5) Summarise the Meeting Outcomes. Summarise the meeting by repeating any decisions made and all action items.
6) $POĂĽ SN ,FZ %FDJTJPOT JO 8SJUJOH *G UIFSF BSF LFZ EFDJTJPOT NBEF DPOĂĽ SN ZPVS VOEFSTUBOEJOH PG UIF EFDJTJPO JO XSJUJOH XJUI BO FNBJM "U B SFDFOU DMJFOU NFFUJOH B NFNCFS PG UIF UFBN DPOĂĽ SNFE IJT VOEFSTUBOEJOH PG B EFDJTJPO made with an email. Other team members were upset upon reading that email as they believed the person changed the decision. He calmly shared that he did not change the decision. Rather, he wanted to communicate what he thought he had heard. He noted that "sometimes it seems EJGGFSFOU XIFO ZPV XSJUF JU EPXO 8SJUJOH JU EPXO BOE DPOĂĽ SNJOH UIF EFDJTJPO BMMPXFE UIJT UFBN to resolve a miscommunication before it led to missed execution.
Judsons Financial Management Services Pty Ltd. ABN 49 135 685 148
E: admin@judsons.com.au | P: 07 3367 1994 | A: 20 Mayneview Street, Milton, Brisbane, Queensland 4064
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