It’s usually a list of three to seven priorities that come out of a quarterly leadership team meeting, and I call them rocks. They are things that take longer than a week to accomplish, so they are much more than to-dos, and they might take one or more people to mark as complete.
The reason I bring them up is because a client just showed me their rocks for the next 90 days, and they were completely unrealistic. Why? Because they had some big-ticket items on the list and there are less than 40 working days until Christmas, and they also close down for most of January. Time was very much against them, and they were setting themselves up for failure.
Rocks are a fantastic way to grow a business, but they need to be achievable. Not just the rock itself but taking into account the timescale and any other factors affecting the industry. In other words, plan your 90 days wisely, or your team may think you’ve got rocks in your head.
Are you panicking about everything you need to do before Christmas? Let me know in the comments below.