A plan can be so good – substantively correct, clearly formulated, concrete actions – if it is not implemented it is pointless, a waste of effort. You can only achieve results by doing things. It is better to execute a plan that is 80% ready very well than execute a 100% plan only moderately. The method we describe here can help you carry out actions, learn from the results and adjust your plan if necessary.
Assumptions
Make conscious choices. Be aware of the results. And consciously adjust. Three words are central to increase the awareness of the team. They form the basis of our working method.
Dialogue
Working successfully with OGSM is about people working together. Talk to each other and learn from the results.
Discipline
By using fixed moments to discuss the progress of the OGSM you avoid being lived by the issues of the day.
Ownership
Determine owners of strategies and actions. They are responsible for implementation and are the point of contact for the team.
Do, Learn & Adjust and Create
The method consists of three different team sessions that take place periodically.
Monthly session: DO
Every month the team discusses the status of actions they are working on. The aim is to gain insight into actions that are not going according to plan and to determine how the implementation of these actions can be improved.
Preparation
As preparation for the monthly session all owners of actions prepare their status updates. They do this before the session starts.
Agenda of the monthly session
In the monthly session, discuss all actions with the status orange or red:
- What are the underlying reasons why the action does not go according to plan?
- What are we going to do to improve or speed up the action? Include this in the action plan.
More about the monthly session
Quarterly session: LEARNING & ADJUSTING
Each quarter the team looks back on the past quarter and forward to the coming quarter. The purpose of the session is to learn from the results of the actions and to update the OGSM on the basis of new insights and developments. The quarterly session is the time to adjust the plan if necessary.
Preparation
For the quarterly session, the action owners update the status of their actions.
Where possible, update the indicators with current readings. The indicators help to make a proper assessment of the progress of the strategy.
Finally, the owners of the strategies give their opinion on the progress. They do this in a progress report prior to the session
Quarterly session
In the quarterly session, discuss all strategies: What are the results of the past quarter? What can we learn from the progress? What is going well and what needs to be improved? What changes should we make? Process the changes in the OGSM.
More about the quarterly session
Year session: CREATE
In the annual session you evaluate the current plan and determine the plan for the coming year. The purpose of the annual session is to determine whether you are still on track to achieve your goals, to identify new developments and to adjust the OGSM if not.