It’s time to start planning your quarterly organization tune-up!

Are your cylinders firing? Is your team running at tip top shape? Do you need to top off goals or rotate priorities?

Our organizations need periodic tune ups to perform efficiently, well, and to avoid unplanned breakdowns. As we approach the end of March, it‘s a great time to plan your quarterly tune-up.

What, you don’t know where to go to get a quality tune up? Fear not, an organizational tune up is easy to do. All you need is the “Supreme Service - Do it Yourself Kit“

Here you go!

SSDIY - Part 1 - Check Your Mileage and Perform a Visual Inspection

Pull your goals out of the glove compartment and dust them off. Measure your accomplishments to date and add any new goals that have been added since the goals were first developed. Identify what’s going well and what’s not going well.

SSDIY - Part 2 - Change Your Oil, Filters and Belts

In organizations, our practices and processes represent the oil, filters and belts. They enable work to flow from one place to the next. As things change, we need to realign and perhaps change how we get the work done. The best way to ensure our engines are running clean is to identify the were you and/or your team are bogged down by mucky muck. For this part, you might want to try using my HIMM Playbook, which you can download for free here.

SSDIY - Part 3 - Rotate the Tires and Ensure Proper Inflation

In Parts 1 & 2, you evaluated current results, redefined goals, and assessed how well your processes and practices are aligned for success. In Part 3, you will want to make any needed adjustments to priorities, roles and assignments. It is sometimes wise to rotate or cross-train folks and get new people involved in projects and initiatives. You many also want to reorder and reduce priorities to improve focus. But you can’t just rotate roles and leave it at that. Make sure that you and your team members have the skills and training you need to do your best work.

SSDIY - Part 4 - Recharge Your Batteries, Vacuum Floor Mats, Clean Windows

You and your team members need a recharge! Take an afternoon to do something invigorating together. Try a team activity or get away for an energizing brainstorming and planning session (not a boring offsite meeting, a great one). You will want to put on your “amazing leader” hat, reenergize your passion for the work, and pump up your team!

Take another afternoon and get organized. Throw away or store the stacks of paper that you don’t need. Get things filed and complete all those little nagging things done.

And there you go - a great quarterly tune-up!

Here’s a few suggestions on timing:

SSDIY - Part 1 - Ask team members to help you get this information together before you meet as a team.

SSDIY - Parts 2 & 3 - You can do much of this together as a team in 4 hours or so. You might need to save some of the decisions about roles for later, but you can get everyone’s input. Have your manager on deck and ready to be called in as needed to provide information or feedback.

SSDIY - Part 4 - This should be done one week after the Parts 2 & 3. Take a morning or afternoon for the recharge and another afternoon for the group organization “party.”

That’s SO MUCH time, you are saying? A tune-up is time upfront that saves much more time later.

Let me know if you have specific questions about how to do the tune-up. If you work at a company that has a training or OD function, hand them this post and ask for help. They will know exactly what to do and may have additional ideas.

And when you are all done, don’t forget to mark your calendar for the next quarterly tune-up (like the little sticker in the upper left hand of our windshield).