Make Your List and Check it Twice.

Every time I look up from my computer screen, I glance for a second at the cheery Christmas tree strung with garland and lights that is standing in the corner. Located right next to our main entrance, the tree has assumed the task of office greeter, welcoming people as they walk through the door, reminding them that this is the “most wonderful time of the year.” …In case they forgot.

I hum along to the faint Christmas music that is playing softly somewhere far off into the distance, (or maybe it’s just playing on “repeat” in my head). People are posting countdowns on Facebook with the number of shopping days left until Christmas, blogging about the amazing Black Friday deals they found, or tweeting their holiday wish-lists.

I too have been making lists …but of a different sort.

While December marks that time of year that everyone looks ahead with great anticipation to favorite holiday festivities, it also presents a valuable opportunity to look back, and reflect on the year that is quickly coming to a close.

As I put the final touches on my 2012 PR and Media Plan which I will present to our Marketing Manager next week, I had to sit down and ask myself a few important questions. Maybe these will help you too as you start to plan out your objectives for the upcoming year.

1. Did you meet the mark? Re-visit the goals you set for yourself at the beginning of last year. Were you successful in meeting them? If so, you rock! If not, what stood in your way?
2. What variables have changed? Did you add personnel, did you lose personnel? Has your budget increased/decreased? These are important factors to consider when planning out all the things you can realistically accomplish…not just all of the things you would like to.
3. What programs or tools did you rely on to do your job? Are they worth keeping/losing/upgrading/swapping for something else?
4. (This one’s a three-parter, but each a highly imperative question worth figuring out…) Where were you when you started? Where are you now? Where are you trying to go?
5. How will you measure success? Perhaps the most important measure of any plan is to assign benchmarks as a way to determine when all is said and done, whether you hit it out of the park, or arrived at the party a day late and a dollar short. (Three clichés in one sentence—wow!)

Don’t forget- a good plan should serve as a guide and not necessarily a Bible. Factors will inevitably change along the way which may force you to make certain tweaks to your tactics. Remember, failure to plan, is planning to fail! …At least, according to the sign that is posted to the top of my co-worker’s cube.

So folks, there you have it. My two cents. Take it to the bank. (Another cliché …I can’t stop!)