The Covid-19 pandemic dealt everyone a tough 2020, and perhaps now you’re starting to notice some momentum as the economy starts to re-open. Maybe you’re thinking, “we’re seeing a light at the end of the tunnel; let’s just keep doing what we’re doing,” but if the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that the strategy set six months ago may no longer be applicable.

It’s almost June, which means Q2 is coming to an end. I’m a firm believer that this time of year presents a great opportunity to pull together company leaders for a Mid-Year Review. This is a chance for growth, to work smarter and evaluate whether or not the company is on-track to meet annual goals. The outcome may be the decision to make a course correction or it may involve discussing new opportunities that revealed themselves over the past six months. As a Senior Sales Leader, I’ve found companies that adhere to this proactive approach grow at a dramatically faster pace than those who don’t.

Gathering cross-functional leaders is also an opportunity for transparency and healthy accountability in a peer group setting. Over the course of my career, I’ve interacted with start-ups to Fortune 500s, and have recognized companies who embody a culture of “what can we all do to help the company advance?” achieve the most progress. In a Mid-Year Review, the objective is for each departmental leader to contribute toward the organization’s overall success; it’s a team effort. Each leader is interdependent and must be willing to be accountable to their teammates, as well as be supportive when help is needed for course correction. When leadership is all rowing in the same direction, their likelihood to achieve high performance grows exponentially. 

THOUGHT PROVOKING TRIVIA
 
It’s important to write down your business goals and action plan to hold yourself accountable. In the last year, what percent of Small to Mid-sized Business owners documented a strategy?
 
a. 15% b. 18% c. 33% d. 47%
 
Find out the answer at the end of my blog.

 

Gathering cross-functional leaders is also an opportunity for transparency and healthy accountability in a peer group setting. Over the course of my career, I’ve interacted with start-ups to Fortune 500s, and have recognized companies who embody a culture of “what can we all do to help the company advance?” achieve the most progress. In a Mid-Year Review, the objective is for each departmental leader to contribute toward the organization’s overall success; it’s a team effort. Each leader is interdependent and must be willing to be accountable to their teammates, as well as be supportive when help is needed for course correction. When leadership is all rowing in the same direction, their likelihood to achieve high performance grows exponentially. 

Are you lacking a documented plan for one of your key business functions?

For example, if you’re wondering what a Strategic Sales Plan should include,
take a look at my previous blog: The Sales Plan: A Roadmap to Reach Your Goals

Let’s dive into the ins and outs of a Mid-Year Review:

 

PART 1
Revisit the top 3 company goals the team agreed upon before the year began. This is the time the team will assess if performance is on-track at a high level. Taking this approach will spark continuity within the leadership team and a spirit of togetherness. Starting off by focusing on the top company-level objectives makes the transition into discussing departmental performance more productive.

PART 2
Next each functional leader outlines their department’s performance. For the Mid-Year Review to be effective, each leader needs to have proactively identified their top two or three high-level metrics so that these pivotal areas can be reported on. During the session, each member shares how their key areas have performed over first half of the year, what they see working or not working, and if needed, the plans they have formulated to get back on course.

MID-YEAR REVIEW TIPS
TO MAXIMIZE ROI

⇒

 Dedicate a half-day
⇒ Meet off-site for a neutral, non-distracting environment 
⇒ Until the team settles into a productive pattern, involve an outside facilitator to flatten hierarchy and encourage everyone to contribute 
⇒
Participants should include the Top Executive and all Cross-functional Leaders (Finance, Human Resources, Sales, Marketing, Operations, etc.)
⇒
Each functional leader is prepared to share first half-year performance on their top-level 2-3 departmental KPIs
⇒
Foster an environment of collaborative problem solving, course correction, etc.
⇒
These aren’t easy meetings: Recognize and celebrate successes at kick-off and conclusion

This is a collaborative opportunity where leaders can leverage one another as sounding boards to optimize improvement plans, or dig into new opportunities that may have surfaced. Every leader needs to be open to participating by weighing in on the plans their teammates may have formulated to provide helpful contribution. Doing this in a collaborative, teamwork setting can generate powerful solutions when they are needed most.

PART 3 
Now it’s time to revisit the predefined top three company goals to determine if the high-level strategy is still right given what was revealed during the departmental reviews. By the conclusion of this multidisciplinary meeting, everyone should be clear on where the company is, the direction it’s going, the agreed-upon strategy that is best for getting there, and what method will be used for measuring progress.

In the case of the Sales function, are you unsure of what you should be measuring?
Click here to review a list of foundational KPIs as a starting point.
Review, Refine and Reboot Your Sales Plan

 

In the end, committing to a Mid-Year Review allows you to take a step back so that leadership can come together, make adjustments, and solidify a strategy to ensure your internal teams are positioned to meet their goals so that the company can meet its overall objectives.

Whether you’re in a good place now or a not-so-good place and you want to level-up, if you’re looking for some help to guide you to a better place, please feel welcome to reach out so we can start a conversation and work together to find a solution. 

If you need help learning how to facilitate a Mid-Year Review,
or are looking for additional Sales function expertise, let’s talk.
Schedule a Call

THOUGHT PROVOKING TRIVIA ANSWER

 
Only 15% of SMB owners reported documenting a business strategy.
 * If you fall in the 85% of owners without a recorded strategy, I can help. 
Schedule a time to chat.