THE 30-60-90 DAY PLAN

Hands up if you felt clueless on your first day at the job. Seems like everyone! Which is common because it can take new employees time to settle in and learn the ropes of a new position. But sometimes, employers want you to be as productive as soon as possible, especially if they are gunning for new clients and new projects.

Enter the 30-60-90 day plan. You’ve probably heard of this – it’s been the buzz of late. What exactly is it though? For starters, it is a document that you can create (or your supervisor) that outlines the goals you need to accomplish during the first three months of employment (hence the 90). What it really does is that it has an ultimate goal set for 90 days (say to achieve 30% of your sales target) and shows the steps you need to accomplish along the way at the 30- and 60-day marks. Essentially, it breaks down whatever goals your supervisor wants you to hit into the three increments, and with this plan, it helps to simplify what you should be doing and focusing on.

Why It Works
A plan is better than no plan after all! But a good plan like the 30-60-90 day plan? With it, you have something with concrete goals you know you should be hitting as expected by the people who hired you! This way, you don’t go into your new role blindly, wondering what it is that you should be achieving. It’s all laid out for you – and all you need to focus on is to hit those parameters for success. At the same time, it allows your supervisor to keep track of your deliverables and there won’t be any misaligned expectations come your performance review.

Simply put, it’s a roadmap for success, and done well, it will help you make a positive first impression on your new employer.

How do you write one? Generally, you’ll want to include overall objectives and specific ways to measure your progress. Better yet, instead of going at it alone, why not schedule some time with your supervisor to craft one? That way, you can both work out what it is that you should be hitting along the metrics.

As a general rule, here are some things to think about when creating your 30-60-90 day plan.

#1 Define your goals or what it is that you want to achieve
Determine with your supervisor what your goals should be for your new position. There are three kinds of goals you can focus on – learning goals, performance goals or personal goals. To get started, make a general list and sort them into these three categories.

#2 Identify your 30-day targets
Look at your list. Identify the learning goals. Your first 30 days on the job should be focused on learning about the company and your specific role before you delve deeper into what you should be achieving.

#3 Identify your 60-day targets
Time to move up the next metric! Now think about what and how you want to contribute to the company. These goals should rely on the new knowledge and skills you gained during the first 30 days.

It should also focus on you being closer to contributing as an employee in the company. Goals here can include all three categories – for example, to learn how to make better sales call as a learning goal; to make five sales calls a week to key clients and prospects as a performance goal; and to schedule a meeting with a seasoned member of the team to get feedback on your sales calls and techniques as a personal goal.

#4 Time to set up your 90-day targets
Sixty days done and dusted – it’s time to really push the pedal to contribute even more effectively as a new recruit! At this point, it’s important for you to focus on your actions and goals to enhance your contributions. Essentially, your main action here should be to execute. Take what you’ve learned over the past 60 days and apply it to your work. Make it all about taking initiative where you can assume more autonomy and find ways to show your supervisor that you know what’s expected of you and can get to where he or she wants to be independently.

Here are few more things to think about when making your 30-60-90 day plan:

Give your goals an achieve-by date: Assign a deadline to your goals so you know exactly what timeframe you’re working with to achieve them. Give your goals a date – this is important for your goals to be measurable and achievable

Think of the big picture: Before you write your specific goals, reflect on your overall priorities. Start with what you should be achieving and work out from there on how to achieve them

Don’t be too hard on yourself: Limit your goals to five per parameter. Don’t be pressured to want to achieve everything – it’s not possible! Think of the five things that are important to you and focus on them

Be flexible: OK so you didn’t meet some of your goals or didn’t follow the plan precisely. It’s fine. Every day at the workplace is different so you should allow some flexibility on the targets you should be hitting.

Try this and tell us if it works for you @Graduan!

Photo by kris on Unsplash.