Excerpt from the above article:

1. Setting Up for Success

Any leader can begin proactive planning with their day-to-day work. There is no need a massive two-hour 4D planning session or meeting. Small changes with consistent action and follow-through can have major impacts.

Proactive people use proactive language and approaches to continue to thrive when everything starts to go downhill. The prime difference is that proactive thinkers can stop and clarify the best possible outcome and then reverse engineer the steps necessary to make that outcome as likely as possible. They can also communicate it with proactive language.

Now, it’s easy to envision success when the company is at the top of its game. When you set up for success, and your daily activities reflect that, it’s easier to keep a level head when things go wrong and have a clear sight of what would count as a reasonable or acceptable outcome.

Here are four ways you can start implementing daily proactive planning.

Support Staff Knowledge on Pivoting and Response

 Yes, pivot is still a buzzword and has pretty close ties to proactive planning. When setting up for success, you need to identify who on your team is best at knowing when to pivot and who is best at knowing how to pivot.

Reactive planning often involves a leader making a decision, bringing together the team to ask what they think, and then carrying out that decision. Does this sound familiar? It’s the normal way to approach planning.

 Proactive planning starts with the leader listening to the team, getting organized, assessing possible responses for foreseeable changes, and exploring creative solutions. To do that, you must know who is best at each step of this process.

Teach Your Team to Plan for All Types of Weather

Setting up for success relies largely on your team and how you support them. Remember, when the going gets tough, the tough get going. So help your team become tough. You can control how you proactively communicate, build, and develop your team. Be a proactive leader.

When planning weekly, monthly, or quarterly goals, ask your staff to do the same. Ask your staff to:

• Set their work goals, and if possible, align them to team goals.
• Create a plan for the best-case scenario.
• Work out possible responses if something strays from the plan.
• Evaluate possible responses in the event of missed days or poor performance.

Audit External Factors Often

If everyone did the right thing at the right moment, there would still be many unsuccessful companies and professionals. External factors such as COVID-19 can catch all of us off-guard. Of course, the more frequently you monitor external factors, the better you can identify upcoming changes.

Conduct a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis to review your company’s strengths, weaknesses, upcoming opportunities, and potential threats. We often perform a SWOT analysis when business planning, but leaders can benefit from regularly revisiting this tool. Use this tool to explore your position in the industry, and the current economic climate. When performing a SWOT analysis always consider the company’s financial health, legal changes, and industry disruptors.