It’s that time of year again: you’re either patting yourself on the back as you make early strides towards eating more broccoli, or you’re knee-deep in disappointment because you’ve remembered you actually hate broccoli. New year’s resolutions have a way of buoying up our hopes only to tear them back down. But this year, your new year’s resolutions don’t have to get you down—in fact, they can set your company up for success! Here are four new year’s resolutions that are ambitious, achievable, and will you to a better business in 2023.
Set Attainable Growth Goals
The most important part of any new year’s resolution is . . . that you can do it! When we set goals that are too vague or too difficult to attain, we may spiral into frustration as we attempt the impossible. Consequently this can lead to feelings of shame, which may lead to quitting or underperforming. One way to manage your goals is to make them S.M.A.R.T.: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. Another tactic is to break down your goals into short-term, medium-term, and long-term, in order to keep you on track and grant immediate results. By creating goals that are attainable and measurable, you will achieve them faster and maintain higher morale.
Update Old Regimes
With a fresh start comes the perfect opportunity to see what needs updating. Look over your current systems in place and ask yourself if they could be more efficient and/or effective. A good starting point is with the legacy software operating your business. More and more, businesses are moving their data and product management software to the cloud, which increases productivity and decreases costs. The last thing you want is to fall behind due to what should be an easy fix.
Commit to Sustainable Practices
It’s never too late to commit to a better business and a better world.This year, do your finances and the earth a favor by taking a stand for sustainability. Lean manufacturing is the evolving concept that manufacturing creates seven types of waste that must be addressed: overproduction, transport, motion, inventory, defects, waiting, and overprocessing. Try to tackle one: how can you produce more products exactly to the demand of your customers so as not to waste resources, funds, and precious time? A tip: Sage products can be a big help!
Challenge Biases
We all like to think that our businesses are doing more good than harm. But no matter how hard we try, unconscious biases can keep our business from being a source of equality and change in the world. Take a look at your employees: the new hires, the people getting promotions, the quietly hardworking. How many women are in each group? How many people of color? These are basic questions to ask yourself to discover whether you have been exhibiting unconscious bias, but the buck can’t stop there. Communicate with your employees, especially those belonging to marginalized groups (women, BIPOC individuals, LGBTQ+ people, those with mental or physical disabilities), and ask them to describe their experience in the company. Be open, humble, and clear that their jobs are protected no matter what they say. Only through reaching out with an open heart can we begin to see real change.
New year’s resolutions are never easy. If changing your work—and your life—were that simple, everyone would do it! But through clear goals, careful planning, and the desire to make your workplace the best it can be, the next year will surely see a better business and a better you.
