At the beginning of this year, I had the grand intention of having a hit of tennis once a week with my husband. Has it happened? Not once!
What I’ve realised is, that unless we set the goal together and then commit to it by booking the course for a term, it ain’t gonna happen!
90 Days is a Proven Cycle
As humans, we respond to a 90-day cycle particularly when it comes to setting targets. Longer than that and it’s too far away. Shorter than that and we feel overwhelmed and can’t build momentum.
Perhaps it has something to do with the changes of the seasons, but whatever the reason we see evidence in businesses who break the year into quarters, software teams using it for sprints, and in schools who follow 4 terms.
Accountability is Key
As humans, we also need feedback. We need to celebrate wins, big or small, and we need deadlines to deliver on. Lots of us are good at setting goals, but most of us rarely look at them again!
Having an“accountability buddy” to help celebrate and reset every 90 days, can help business owners and executive teams build cadence on those big picture improvements they want to make within their organisation.
It’s Never Too Late
But we’ve missed the beginning of this quarter, I hear you say, so let’s start in the new year. Oh, but we’ll be on holidays for most of January, so can we start in February? Actually, let’s push it out to March. How many times have you had great intentions but just kept on operating as you always have?
The 90-day cycle doesn’t need to line up exactly with the change of season to be an effective way to help you achieve the targets you desire. It gives you the structure that will start delivering results — growth in sales, new products/services, delighted customers, certifications, better margins, lower costs, higher skills, engaged staff, efficient systems. Name your goal.
Do you need an accountability buddy for your executive team?