imapMyTeam Blog

Check the Plan: How You Proactively Respond to Reality

“However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results” … Sir Winston Churchill

The business climate today is demanding, unforgiving and sometimes brutal. Customers expect you to do more with less and do it right - the first time. Two essential skills for successful execution are to proactively ‘Check your Plan’ and ‘Respond to Reality’.

In last week’s tip on ‘Strategy and Tactics’ our focus was on the strengths of Reds and Blues. This week as you ‘Check your Plan’ and ‘Respond to Reality’, consider the helpful strengths of Greens and Yellows. The imapMyTeam® information describes the strength of the Greens [diamond symbol] as flexible and externally oriented. They are good at making sure we understand the impact on others outside the immediate group, including the customer. The complimentary strength of the Yellows [diamond symbol] is to bring focus to the team and use established guidelines and procedures (infrastructure) to make sure we move forward in an organized way.

Any successful plan needs people on the team who are flexible and focused. Most people are stronger in one characteristic than the other. Some roles on teams are clearly defined to be one or another.

In the center pane pull down menu of www.imapmyteam.com ® there is a report titled: Team Player Strengths. This report is a set of adjectives that will describe many of your specific strengths. As you read this list, do the descriptions suggest your strengths are to be more flexible or focused? Which does your job require?

Consider how your strengths enable you to ‘Respond to Reality’ in your work day. If your strengths suggest flexibility, identify where you might need to apply some focus so you ensure that you complete your tasks. If your strengths suggest focus, identify where in your work day you need to exercise flexibility. Now, ‘Check your plan’. Do you need more flexibility or focus to deal with the realities of your work day?