As the sun sets on 2019, most businesses do not have the luxury of downtime. They are gearing up for an even more productive year. The last quarter is time to reflect on what went well and to review areas of sluggish growth. In response to feedback, business owners set goals for the new year. Here are a few best practices that will help prepare your business for 2020.

Review Vision and Mission Statements

Each year represents a time of renewal and a chance to start with a clean slate. Start these preparations with your existing mission statement in mind. Consider if your company vision is currently being shared by employees and executive staff members. Use the year end review to determine if your mission statement was met frequently or rarely – then make the necessary changes to move forward. In some cases of extreme growth or slow down, it may be a good idea to refresh or create a new vision for the company moving forward.

Partner With a Consultant

Organizational Development Consultants and other businesses coaches offer tremendous assistance for growing companies. These professionals are able to objectively review goals in comparison to performance in previous years. Identifying these gaps is a crucial step toward accurately analyzing the business goals for the next year. Consulting with an industry expert is also a great way to review industry trends and best practices. Keeping a fresh approach to doing things helps prevent businesses from becoming stale and irrelevant. Executive staff and members of the Board must also keep an open mind and be willing to change. This is the only way to present new ideas to the employees, which is another step for setting business goals for 2020.

Communicate With Employees

Employees expect transparency from their employers and want to know that their opinion matters. Choose a way to communicate company goals in a way that empowers employees and provides valuable information. The GROW model is useful for both of these agendas. The acronym covers the Goal, Reality, Options, and Where you currently stand as an organization. Employees can chime in to provide solutions for the future when they are given information in a comprehensive way, such as this model.