Ever think your business could be doing a little better? Do you look at other businesses who are swimming in success and think to yourself, “how the hell are they doing that?!”

There are heaps of different reasons why businesses become successful, but a biggie is having effective planning and goal setting in place.

Yes, planning and goal setting can seem like somewhat boring and lengthy processes, but you can bet that the businesses that are kicking goals left, right and centre are having regular planning sessions.

What’s more is that these planning sessions are effective - not just an ambiguous “we want to become millionaires!” These kind of goals aren’t helping anyone.

Now, it’s not that you need to have a plan for every second of every day that you stick to at all costs. It’s about having clear, short and long term goals for your business that are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time-orientated. It’s about giving your business a clear direction while having the ability to go back and adjust your plan as you go. It’s about creating a driving force that fires up your business.

So, what do you reckon? Do you think your business needs a planning overhaul? Here are 7 signs that’ll tell you one way or another.

#1: Your Projects Aren’t Completed On Time

This is a big issue for a lot of businesses, and its root can be found in the planning process. If you’ve got a big project, you need to have clearly defined steps and timeframes that’ll lead your team - otherwise, things can quickly get out of hand.

#2: There’s Confusion Amongst Your Team

A major warning sign that your planning needs an overhaul is if there’s confusion amongst your team.

Who’s supposed to be doing what? When does this project need to be done by? What sub-tasks need to happen?

If your team don’t know the answers to these questions - there’s a problem.

#3: Different Departments are Stepping on Each Other’s Toes

Are your various departments getting frustrated with each other? Stepping on each other’s toes and doubling up on jobs, or not doing them all together because “we thought the other guys were doing it”?

Having a good, strong plan in place will help to eradicate these issues, and ensure that each team knows what they’re supposed to be doing - and when.

#4: You Have a Hard Time Measuring Any Relevant Statistics

When it’s time to hand up the numbers for the KPI review - do you have trouble finding the information you need? Or, do you have the numbers, but have no idea where they came from?

By planning out projects and campaigns, you know which numbers are coming from where - and you know where to look to find them.

What’s that mean? Better, more relevant statistics to make the head honcho’s happy.

#5: Your Business and Teams Have a Lack of Direction

It’s difficult to see the forest through the trees - unless you have a ladder.

Planning out your marketing and sales calendars push you high above the foliage, allowing you to get a glimpse of how far you’ve got to go before you hit your targets.

#6: You’re Just Doing The Same Old Things

Ever get the feeling like your business just isn’t going anywhere?

It’s easy for a business to become a bit stagnant if the people in it don’t know where they’re supposed to be heading towards.

SMART planning keeps everyone in the business focused, with goals that they can see and actively push the company towards.

#7: You Have No Idea What Works, or What Doesn’t

A bad thing about this is that if you’re doing something right - you don’t know what the hell it is, or how to utilise it more. What’s worse is if you’re doing something wrong, you don’t know how to fix it.

Having clearly defined campaigns and steps towards your goals means that you know what bits have been a success, and which need to be thrown back onto the drawing board.

If you think your business or teams are suffering from any one of these, it’d be a very wise move to rethink your SMART goal planning. It’ll make a huge difference to your business’s effectiveness, and help you to remove any cloud of confusion that’s lingering over your company’s head.

To get you started on the road to a plan that drives your business towards success, we’ve got a super easy free SMART Goals Template. It’s specifically designed to assist you in planning out your marketing and sales - why not check it out?