Ever feel like you deal with the same mistakes and problems over and over again? Ever feel like you wrestle with the same decisions over and over again? Maybe even bounce back and forth between the same solutions which curiously seem to fail over and over? Such a WASTE of time.
It’s enough to drive morale and productivity into the dirt, people out the door and the bottom line into the red zone.
Much of this could be avoided with mindful preservation of institutional memory.
Whether you are a team of one or many, STOP, reflect and capture key pieces of information about the year.
It can be VERY hard to make time for this, but it’s critical to do at least annually.
1. What went well this year? Spend lots of time on this one. Very clarifying. See helpful quote for creating vision.
2. What didn’t go well this year?
3. What big decisions were made? For what reason? Who decided? How? Why were they made?
4. What big budget “discoveries” did you make?
5. What mistakes were made and what did you learn from them?
6. What good things came from the mistakes?
7. What is being done to prevent recurrence of these mistakes?
8. What will you do the same in the new year?
9. What will you do differently in the new year?
10. What will you STOP doing ?
Set aside time for this review. Give heavy emphasis to #1. Take lots of notes. Then set them aside. But keep them close though because your brain will keep coming up with more things to add.
For an even more comprehensive preservation of memory, ask for help. Getting “the team” involved in this discussion usually results in boosts of both morale and productivity – now and later. If you are a solo practitioner, you could ask colleagues, vendors or friends to help you.
However you do it, be sure to compile your notes and keep them with other business documents that you review frequently.
Review the list with your coach at least quarterly.
Do the same with your team.
By doing so, you pave the way for a smoother ride in the new year.
Jan has a new book coming out in 2024. It’s about masterful mistake management which brings great rewards including customer loyalty, team morale, productivity and overall performance.
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