We are half-way through the financial year.
How are you, your team and your business tracking against plan and budget?
It is critical that you check in now and conduct a mid-year review. Are you in front, on par or behind your expectations for the year so far?
In this 2-Part Blog, I outline the critical areas to review at the half-year mark. While monthly and quarterly progress must be monitored, the mid-year review is the key milestone before hitting the end of the financial year.
In Part 1 I will outline the ‘Qualitative’ areas to review, and next time in Part 2, I will pivot to the ‘Quantitative’ factors.
So let’s get started on considering the qualitative areas to consider in conducting a mid-year review.
QUALITATIVE AREAS TO COVER IN YOUR MID-YEAR REVIEW
Owners’ Meeting
Business Owners should schedule a meeting together either locally or remotely to conduct a mid-year review.
The qualitative factors to workshop and discuss prior to meeting with management and the wider team include:
Review of strategic Plan
Business performance against ‘theme’ set for the financial year and overall plan
Operational review
Honest assessment of progress on Top 5 Goals
Review of key projects
Customer feedback and case studies for half-year
Business development activities assessed
Sales & marketing activities – wins, losses and lessons learnt
People & culture
Management and leadership assessment
HR – new starts, departures & new hires planned
This provides both a forum to workshop the business at the half-year point and prepare content for discussion with the management team/key people and the wider team.
Management
Meet with your management team or key people to discuss all of the key areas above including:
Seek management input on key areas
Share and detail owner’s considerations
Feedback & needs analysis
Focus on remobilising team for run to end of fin year
Review fast-tracking operational functionality and productivity for the run home
Set out the plan to share these half-year review findings with the broader team (and relevant external parties if applicable)
Half-Year Review – Team Meeting
Schedule a Half-Year Review Team Meeting with the entire team covering the above qualitative areas with key people to present:
‘State of Business Affairs’ summary covering the half-year to date in terms of achievements, setbacks, opportunities and threats (Owner/MD/GM to present)
Management update (GM/Operations Manager to present)
Operational update on what to keep doing, stop doing & start doing (GM/Operations Manager to present)
Key Project Review (Project Champions)
Production/Service update on quality (Production/Service Head)
HR update on people/culture, training/development, policies, new starters, exits and pending new hires (HR Manager)
Sales update on customer base, feedback and opportunities (Sales Manager)
BD, Marketing & Communications update (Marketing Manager)
Business administration (Finance)
Technical update (if applicable)
OH&S
Open Forum (Team Q&A)
Individual Team Members
Direct Reports to meet with individual team members 1-1 re:
Annual Performance Reviews on half-year progress (performance not pay)
Progress on their individual Top 5 Priorities/Goals set for year
Where are they winning, struggling, stuck and how can you help them progress in the back-end of fin year
Project Teams
Project Teams to meet and conduct a detailed half-year review of key projects.
Report qualitative insights to management/owners.
Sales & Marketing
Sales & marketing team members to meet and review:
Business development activities on execution and success for the half-year
Review Annual Calendar and discuss activities and communications for balance of year
Workshop new or emerging topics, focus and opportunities
Finance
Review finance & business administration re:
Reporting on timeliness and accuracy
Policy & procedure adherence
Relations & issues with external parties (ATO/Bank/Lawyers/Accountants etc)
In Part 2 of this blog, next time I will outline the ‘Quantitative’ factors to consider in your mid-year review.
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Email me at darren@darrenkbourke.com to schedule a meeting (at no cost or obligation) to discuss how I can help you, your business and your team this year.