Go

Here is where boots hit the trail!  You have your goals, plans, and tools – now you are ready to implement.  But like most trails sometimes you come up on things you didn’t expect or need to take a break along the way.  That’s ok!  Here are some helpful tips to keep you in the correct frame of mind to reach your goal.

One step at a time

A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single footstep.  Even if the trail looks long and daunting in the beginning know that you have a plan and a path to follow.  Start off on the path with confidence and expect for success.  All complicated projects are really a series of smaller manageable decisions and steps.  Tackle the one in front of you and keep moving forward.

Make sure to monitor along the way

As you are moving forward with the project make sure that you are monitoring along the way.  Record what you are putting into the project and the various outputs and outcomes along the way. Pay special attention to the key performance metrics that you and your team established at the beginning.

It’s not if things go wrong, but how you react when things go wrong

Most likely you and your team will encounter obstacles and situations that you didn’t expect.  That’s okay!  Your success is not determined by things that go wrong, but how your team reacts when things go wrong.  Adjust, adapt, and overcome and keep moving forward towards the big goal!

Stay on the path

On long projects it can be easy to forget what the original goals and plans were and start to drift off course.  Make sure that you have periodic opportunities for the team to check back in and reconnect with the big goal and review the plan.  This will help to make sure you stay on the right path.

Cheer your team on

A smile and some encouragement can go a long way to boost morale and keep the team moving forward.  Remember to celebrate the small successes along the way.  Especially on long projects it can feel like you will never reach the end, so make sure to mark the milestones and keep the team motivated towards reaching the final goal.

Now that you and the team have been on the go, it’s time to log field notes.