Just like the President – your first 100 days in your new role is the ultimate time to make an impact and to achieve change – and like the President – you need to have a plan.
The 100 day benchmark in American politics began with Franklin Roosevelt who took over in a time of dire economic crisis using his first 100 days to jumpstart the economy and put people back to work. Even though you may not be taking over in such dire conditions as FDR – you want to make an impact and one which is recordable for presenting back to stakeholders.
Step 1. Write your 100-day plan
Include:
- Mission – what is it you want to achieve? Make sure this is aligned to how others view the focus of your role.
- Vision – what your role will be like once you have accomplished your mission.
- Objectives – create a concise summary of what you want to achieve.
- Goals – these stem from your objectives and they need to be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-Bound).
- Strategy – a summary of where you plan to allocate your resources and time.
- Culture – what is the culture in the organisation and where are the opportunities to make changes? Are there things you should be aware of and not change? All organisations have their own character and some hidden characteristics – watch out for them! Milestones – pick out one or two and put a date in your diary for when you want to achieve them. When you achieve these, reflect and assess the outcomes; and determine if you are heading in the right direction and not veering off centre.
Step 2. Get some early wins
Nothing succeeds like success and early wins should be shared. When setting your 100 day plan, think about the available quick wins – things you can achieve easily in the timeframe which will have maximum impact and help you gain trust and credibility.
Step 3. Share your successes
Reflect on your role as an individual, or your influence within a team dynamic, not only is it good for your own morale – it’s great for the team. Very few tasks can be achieved in isolation and most of us draw our greatest satisfaction from getting results with people and teams. Building or becoming part of a team can be rewarding to not only you but your peers.
Step 4. Seek feedback
Make sure you are seeking and receiving feedback from relevant stakeholders such as your boss or peers. Doing this mitigates the risk of surprise about your performance and cements your approach to being consistently successful and self aware of how you are placed.
Step 5. Reporting back
Now that you have done all this amazing work and achieved these results – you need to put a date in your diary at your 100th day, put all the information in a concise report and report back.
You only get one shot at your first 100 days – good luck and enjoy it!
If you have any questions or would like to discuss this further please do get in touch with your consultant at Seldon Rosser and if you get a chance we’d also be keen to hear how your first 100 days go!