2016 has been a funny old year, hasn’t it? I’m sure a lot of us are pleased to be leaving it behind and welcoming a new year in just a few days. As we prepare to head into 2017 it’s the perfect time to set some goals to achieve throughout the next twelve months. Instead of the usual suspects (get fit, save more, drink less) we’re sharing five achievable resolutions that will help to make 2017 your best business year ever, whether you run your own small business or manage your own team within a larger organisation.
Plan Out the Year
Start the year right – plan out short (1-6 months) and long term (6-12 months) goals for 2017 for both you and your business and you’ll have a roadmap for the year to refer back to if you feel like you’re starting to lose your focus. Add any key events, deadlines, product launches and marketing milestones that you want to achieve throughout the year and make a concrete plan for how you and your team can achieve each one.
Streamline Your News Intake
With news around the world shocking us all in 2016, we hope to see headlines take a turn for the positive in 2017 but we all know it’s not likely to happen. It’s tempting to hop from news site to news site throughout the day to ‘keep an eye’ on global business news but too much exposure to the headlines can cause your stress levels to blow up, thanks to all the scaremongering we’re exposed to on a daily basis. Instead, choose one or two trusted news sources that you’ll check a couple of times a day and try to block out the rest of the noise.
Identify Your Strengths and Weaknesses
Identifying your strengths can often be more difficult than identifying your weaknesses (we’re all prone to self-deprecation now and again!) but it’s helpful to know the areas where you do and don’t need to improve when it comes to your career. Perhaps you’re great at encouraging your employees to work together as a team but you’re often so busy you end up paying suppliers later than expected – now you’ve identified where you need to improve it’s an easy fix.
Educate Yourself
It’s easy to put your focus on helping your team better themselves but don’t forget yourself! Education is key and there’s never an excuse to stop learning – if you’re ‘too busy’ to work towards learning a new skill or completing training then try to build it into your work day. Learning something new is a great way to avoid career burn out, so choose a skill that you’re passionate about that will help you in your working life and get ready for some serious studying in 2017.
Boost Your Productivity
Productivity is the cornerstone of any business, so this is the perfect resolution to have an impact on the overall performance of your organisation. We’re all prone to procrastination but it can have a detrimental effect on time management and lead to unneeded stress, so in 2017 try to dedicate some time to upping your (and your employees’) productivity.
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What are your business resolutions for 2017? We’d love to hear what you’ve chosen so don’t forget to comment below!
