Ideas Without Action, Are Just Ideas – Create an Action Plan for the Summit!

Our Spring Summit is just around the corner! Not only is it a time to relax and enjoy your time out of the office, but it is also a great opportunity to share and hear about others’ successes and generate ideas for your own firm. As fun and motivational as our programs are, most of the ideas that are generated from them often die on the vine.

So how do you get the most out of your Summit experience and turn those ideas into action? Let’s start with the end in mind.

Goal Setting

Prior to heading to the event, meet with your team and outline what you want to gain from your attendance. What will make Summit a successful event for you? What do you need to get out of it to make the trip and time out of the office worthwhile? Do you want to learn something specific? Do you want to meet certain people who have experience or success in a particular area? If you’re bringing team members, what do you want them to accomplish or learn?

Quantify and Track

Once you have your goals for the event outlined, the next step is to make sure you don’t lose track of them once you get there. Quantifying and documenting your goals will help to create an intentional plan that doesn’t get forgotten during the hustle and bustle of the event. Create a clear strategy for what you want to accomplish by making your goals specific and measurable. Create a daily activity sheet for everyone on your team with five or six daily activities each. The activities should have each person seeking out and interacting with specific people or firms on topics that would have an impact on your firm. For example, a goal might be to gather at least eight new revenue generating ideas, or meet at least five people who are successful in generating endorsed seminars, or talk to four firms who have streamlined and automated their workflow processes using new technology. Think of the impact that knowledge would make!

Take Action During the Event

You don’t have to wait to get home to take action on certain ideas. Challenge yourself and your team to get into action during the event. For example, identify one activity you can complete before the end of the day, (schedule a meeting, block time on your calendar, send an email, etc.) Add “Actions to Take Today” to the bottom of your daily activity sheet.

Post-Event Action Plan

While you’re at the Summit, jot down all the great ideas you hear to take back to the office and review with the team.

• Start by prioritizing the ideas from that list by sense of urgency and which ideas will have the greatest impact on the team or firm. Once you’ve prioritized your list, determine if they fit into your current or future quarterly goals.
• Next, create the execution plan:List out the steps to be completed – these can include meetings and research needed, along with the execution steps
• Then note who will complete each step – most projects involve more than one person, consider who will need to be involved in the steps
• Lastly, note when they will be completed – be realistic, review the calendars of everyone involved and their availability, then estimate how much time each task will take

Execution and Accountability

The key to execution is keeping the goals and tasks in front of the team each week. Review and report progress on these in your weekly team meetings and with your Practice Building Coach on your coaching calls. If off-track, brainstorm ideas to overcome the obstacles that are getting in the way of completing the next steps.

Before your next meeting or conference, start with your ideal end in mind. Create intentional goals with your team and discuss what they need to be proactive in learning. Bring those ideas back to your team to get them into action. Share your Summit action plan with your Practice Building Coach, so we can help you connect with as many firms as possible.

Susan Russel
Practice Building Coach
American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, Inc.
9444 Balboa Avenue, Suite 300
San Diego, California 92123
Phone: (858) 453-2128
www.aaepa.com