As the end of the year approaches, leaders need to continue to deliver great results and ensure that the company doesn’t lose the momentum gained during the first three quarters of the year. December will be here before we know it. By focusing your efforts on a few key areas, you can set your team up for success. Here are some key business strategies to drive strong performance to the end the year.

Review Your Marketing Strategy and Sales Targets

Most organizations rely on attracting new customers or clients in order to grow their business. At the end of the year, take a moment to think about what strategies worked well and what didn’t.  Look for opportunities to change your marketing strategy, double down on your existing clients or identify a completely different target market.

Some businesses like professional services rely on referrals. Don’t forget to focus your efforts on networking and connecting with new potential referral partners. You might consider hosting holiday dinner parties to meet new potential partners.

Review Your Budget and Financials

The end of the year is a great time to review how your company performed financially. If your targets are lower than expected, you still have time to make a last-minute sales push to improve your numbers.

It’s also an opportunity to look forward to next year and establish a budget based on your company’s needs. For instance, you may be growing rapidly and need to update your e-commerce website. Or maybe you gave up your leased office space during the pandemic and are looking to get the team back together in an office again. Whatever your financial needs, now is the time to plan for those.

Optimize and Streamline Your Business

As your business grows, processes and technology may become outdated and even hinder the efficiency of your company. The end of the year is the perfect time to review your organization’s tools or processes to ensure they are current.

• Review and Update Processes – Assign members of your team to review process flows to make sure they are accurate and reflect the way things are done currently. If you don’t have these processes documented, it might be a good idea to formally set up this documentation.
• Make Technology Updates – Some technology systems may need to be updated periodically. If there is downtime around the holidays, use this opportunity to make much-needed changes and updates to systems and programs.

Embrace Automation – There might be some processes that you could automate to help streamline workflows and make your team more effective. Ask your team about manual tasks that take a lot of time and get their feedback on how you can automate them. Venture Harbour posted a great article with automation tools that can help your business.

Set Goals for Next Year

It’s critical for businesses to set goals that they want to achieve each year. As you approach the end of the year, think about where your business is going and what you want to accomplish. You’ll want to make sure that your goals are realistic and achievable. Many leaders like to use the SMART method to set goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.

After you have established your goals, communicate them to your team and make sure they understand the purpose of these goals. By helping them understand the reasoning behind them, the team will be more likely to embrace them.

Also, you can set up metrics that can be used to measure how well your team is progressing toward those goals throughout the year. This will help you identify if you are on track to achieving your goals or need to make adjustments mid-year.

Reward and Show Gratitude to Your Team

The end of the year can be quite busy and chaotic in many organizations. Don’t forget to take a moment to celebrate the accomplishments that your team has achieved throughout the year. It’s important to show your team that you appreciate their efforts.

There are lots of ways to reward and recognize your team. Many companies do this by hosting a year-end holiday party or paying performance bonuses. Alternatively, you could also take a more personal approach such as giving each employee a gift with a handwritten note telling them how much you appreciate them and value what they bring to the organization.

Get Your Team Back Together in the New Year

Many teams and organizations have spent the better part of the last few years working apart from one another. The new year could give you the opportunity to bring everyone back together. At Lakeside Workspaces, we’re here to help you find professional and flexible solutions for coworking space, meeting rooms, and private offices. Contact us today to find out how our team can set you up with a cost-effective and scalable workspace for your organization.