One of the things I do is facilitate Remodelers Advantage Roundtables. Each Roundtable has about 10 non-competing member companies. The groups meet once in the Spring and once in the Fall.
The most common type of Spring meeting includes a Case Study. This is a deep dive into the business of the host company. Among other tactics, interviews with several employees provide insights into the business that would be impossible to get otherwise. The other members of the group then provide input to the host on what they might work on to improve the performance of their business.
Thirty days after the meeting is over, the host is to send group members an Action Plan laying out the items they will work on. What I see from the host varies. Sometimes they send a list of four to six things they will focus on improving or getting done. The hosts who make the most change between meetings don’t stop there. Here is what they do: they create a true Action Plan.
An Action Plan starts with those same big-picture topics. And then it breaks them down.
For each topic, a list of actions that need to be taken is laid out, in the sequence they are to occur.
Each action has a particular person assigned to it, who is responsible for getting that action done. Getting the action done might involve working with others, but the assigned person is the one who is accountable for making it happen.
Each action also has a deadline by when it is to be completed.
A spreadsheet with Topic, Action, Person Responsible, and Deadline across the top makes organizing this information easy and trackable.
Figuring out how to break down the big topics is typically done by the host and their key employees or the team. The input of these people will make it more likely that the Actions and Deadlines are realistic and owned by them. The resulting outcome: What has been agreed to, will get done.
What I am suggesting takes more work than simply laying out some big topics. In that respect, it is like most things that provide great value and promote the likelihood of significant change.
Only by getting specific about what needs to be done, what specific actions will get that done, who is responsible for what action and what is the deadline for each action, does forward progress happen.
Big picture items are a good start, but to make change you must then get granular.