This is the last post in the building awesome plans series. I’m going to keep things short as I feel like the series has turned into a bit of a monster overall and I’m keen to get into covering more topics in a shorter fashion over the coming months.
Between parts I to IV (and a half) you should now have a good understanding of:
- what you’re trying to achieve (objectives and goals)
- where you are going to focus your efforts (strategy)
- specific ideas / plans to execute (plans)
- detailed schedules for your plans
The last thing I wanted to talk about is how to crystallise your plan and define accountability.
It all comes down to execution now and for that to happen brilliantly you need to ensure that everyone knows the objectives, goals, strategies and plans and that you very clearly define accountability for what needs doing.
The key is getting everything simplified onto one sheet of paper – your objectives, goals, strategies and plans along with who is going to do what and when. This is then something you should be able to share with any person in the organisation and have them quickly understand what you’re trying to achieve and how. It’s the key to getting everyone aligned and to building some serious momentum – it’s what you use to drive forward the execution of the plans.
I’m a massive fan of creating an OGSP document. So much so that I’m not going to go into loads of detail and instead simply suggest you check out the site and their OGSP template and OGSP example.
Put one together – share it with your management and wider team and keep everyone crazy focused on executing on it. Hold regular meetings to review progress toward your goals and to stay close to the execution of the plans.
Last words
Whilst I’ve obviously gone into a lot of detail for each of the stages, it’s really down to you how long you spend on each stage and how much detail you go into.
When all is said in done it’s as simple as clearly defining what you want to achieve and how you are going to achieve it and then keeping everyone laser focused and executing like hell.
‘Strategy is straightforward – just pick a general direction and implement like hell.’ – Jack Welch
I’ve spent the best part of 12 weeks going through all of the stages – this was for a big product with a 250+ people team. However for a new product and a smaller team it could be as little as 1-2 weeks.
What I can promise is that the up front investment on getting clear on your objectives, goals, strategy and plans will pay dividends and increase your chances of success.
If you have any questions at all on the series as a whole or have any suggestions for future blog topics, please drop me a comment 
And below is the whole series:
Building Awesome Plans Part I – Defining Objectives, Goals and Strategy
Building Awesome Plans Part II – Idea Generation
Building Awesome Plans Part III – Idea Prioritisation
Building Awesome Plans Part IV – Detailed Planning
Building Awesome Plans Part IV (and a half) – Detailed Planning
Building Awesome Plans Part V – Crystallising the Plan and Defining Accountability
