As the current year draws to an end, it’s time to really think about next year and getting organised for 2022 for your business. Getting organised for a new year can mean so many things; it might be about taking action to plan for a great year, it might be about general improvement or simply improving your day to day activities so that you are generally better organised. In this article, I’m going to focus on all three areas.
Here are my top 11 tips for getting organised for 2022.
Review what has been
Part of the process of improving on what you are doing is a review of what you’ve been doing and what you’ve not been doing. This is not about wallowing in failures but instead about thinking what can be potentially improved upon. Take a moment (or ideally a solid hour) to sit down and write down what didn’t go so well for you in 2021. Some of these things will be out of your control, but some will be in your control. Take that list and consider what can be done better in 2022 and begin planning for that to put those improvement action steps into place.
Plan for an excellent year
Part of your review of the prior year will be planning for greater results in 2022. As an experienced business coach, I work with clients in this planning process, however, you can action part of this process yourself by listing some goals and objectives and then dot pointing under each goal or objective exactly how you will make that happen. Remember, goals need to be smart, measurable, achievable, reportable/trackable and time-based, but also ensure they are matched to your budget and that you’re passionate about the goal. If your care factor is zero, chances are the goal just won’t happen.
Revisit documents which need updating
Now is a great time to ensure that critical documents or resources have been updated and are current. This might be:
- Your website
- Your business plan
- Your annual marketing plan
- Your social media marketing plan
- Your marketing and sales templates
- Your LinkedIn or Facebook Business pages
- Your client or team on-boarding process or templates
Over a year, if you don’t review these things; they can get out of date. You may have so consciously updated some or all of the above for quite a period of time, so now is the time to take action. If Christmas is a quiet time for your business, then that’s a great time for action. If, however, you are flat out at this time of year, then diarise/schedule for these to be updated in your quieter periods.
Industry, economic or operational changes
Take a good look at what direction your industry is heading. Is your industry one which is seeing change occur? It might be that change is gradual, but perhaps you need to consider how that change will (eventually) impact your business? Will it help or hinder it? What changes should you implement to be ahead of the change? At a time where the world globally is in a flux of change, we can often become quite reactive. Instead, look at things with fresh eyes and if you can be more proactive and ahead of the market (or your industry) then often being an industry leader is a stronger position to be in.
One particular concern many businesses are considering is the move of their personnel. It’s expected that many staff will simply quit and move. How will that affect your business? Are you a business which is likely to attract new talent, or one where staff are fed up, had enough and are likely to join the mass exodus? What are you doing to retain great staff in your business? If staff retention is not on your radar at present, I respectfully suggest you need to reconsider that and how the impact of staff leaving will impact your business.
Change for the better
Now is a great time to consider changes which will be beneficial for your business. Many staff have come to love working remotely and have proved, without doubt, to bosses and managers that they can be effective and proactive when working from home. Productivity has shown in most cases to be up and this will be a drawcard for attracting top talent – from all over the country. Should you consider a more permanent option for your team so that perhaps they work one or two days in the office and some days out of the office? How will you manage that and will that mean you need less physical resources? There is no point in paying high price rent for space which is 80% empty.
What ways do you need to update your business?
As things have changed, such as cash being used less and other payment systems becoming more popular, or bots being used on websites or staff working more from home – what do you need to do to update your systems, technology, processes, training manuals or other resources? Do you need better internet access, or perhaps new systems and processes to support people working from home? With more business moving to online, and if this is you, have you got the best courier service looking after your deliveries?
Finances & budgets
Now, of course, is a good time to review your finances and potentially update budgets. Whilst traditionally budgets are implemented in July at the beginning of the financial year, small businesses at times can ball behind on being on top of their finances. See if your budget needs a revamp and review your financials generally. I should say, financial reviews should happen no less than monthly, but if this has lagged, then now is the time! Don’t forget to review debtor and creditor listings and work to improve both.
Move to paperless
If your business is still very paperbound, then 2022 might be a great year to implement change to your business and begin implementing a more paperless system. You will need to think about how you operate, your processes and of course staff training. Inherently people don’t like change, so you will need to implement a few change management strategies to get this to occur as well as possible. Naturally, a reliable and trusted backup system for your computers/date/information will be paramount. Perhaps working from a tablet is a good move, rather than remaining on a more old-fashioned and paperbound system. There is a tonne of apps to assist in becoming paperless and improving productivity.
Tidy & declutter
Physically, if your office or desk or business generally is a mess, now is a great time for a massive clean-up, declutter and organisation. You might need to archive documents, implement filing systems (perhaps even moving to cloud-based) and generally clean up! If your ‘office’ is a ute (such as for a tradie) then this applies to all workspaces. Your tidy might be as simple as organising cables under your desk, or a complete repaint of the office space. Remember that the declutter might need to include your computers, cloud storage, emails or any digital clutter you may have.
Learn and expand your mind for ensuring a fabulous year ahead
Education is an important part of every business, so making education part of your regular routine is wise. This might be reading blogs, listening to podcasts, doing short courses to undertaking some further education. Whatever you plan to do, endeavour to be consistent in doing it. Remember most New Year resolutions fail by Valentine’s Day, so ensure this keeps happening all year.
Have a break!
Many of us have had a difficult year; either not enough work, too much work, so many challenges or requirements to navigate around, so remember to ensure you have a break and recharge your batteries.
Whatever of this list you decide to action, I recommend you write it down and plan how you will implement that activity or goal. The gold is often in the implementation, follow-through and consistency around an activity.
Wishing you a splendid 2022!
