There is no denying that these early weeks of a new year are crucial for planning a successful financial year ahead.

"In these first few weeks of 2025, there will have been lots of talk amongst business leaders around making a 'Fast Start'  to 2025...

• What do we need to do differently?
• What should we stop doing,
• What should we start doing?

These are good questions to ask but the first thing leaders should do is ensure that the fundamentals are in place and crystal clear. These fundamentals are the organisation's Vision, Purpose and Values.

• Vision – The What? What are we trying to achieve?
• Purpose – The Why? Why are we doing this?
• Values – The How? How are we going to achieve this.

If the business is reminded what they are doing, why they are doing it and how they should be doing it, great things can happen!

These are the guidelines that can allow new thinking and new ideas to emerge and allow business to achieve a truly Fast Start."

If you think you can or think you can’t, you are probably right!

- Henry Ford

"Why is a performance fast start important in a new business year?

It’s easier to ski downhill rather than spend the rest of the year walking up hill with skis on!

Here are some tips that businesses can implement to successfully fuel a 'Fast Start' in 2025;

1. Create Stretch Targets
   Allow team individuals to set their own stretching and short term achievable goals, broken down, with milestones and celebrate achievement, small and large.
   
   
2. Success Environment
   Conduct regular and consistent check-ins, being supportive and constructive.
   Meet at least once during Quarter 1 in person.
   
   
3. Coaching
   Conduct observations, quick feedback and guidance.
   Be a resource, not a supervisor, to build trust and motivation.
   If you can’t find the time to observe and coach them all, try ABSTRACT's The Coaching Hub.
   
   
4. Reward
   Celebrate quick wins with recognition and small incentives. Share the good news across your team.
   
   
5. Compelling Vision
   Remind your team members of the bigger picture for their clients, the team, the division and their career."
   

If you Google ‘How to improve business performance and productivity’, the first few pages will be filled with tips and solutions all centred around systems and processes.

While these are critically important for efficiencies and effectiveness, once they are implemented, they just need a small investment to regularly monitor and tweak certain elements to remain relevant and fit for purpose. 

Depending on what type of business you run, your people are arguably your defining best asset that can be the difference between average, good and great business performance.

So, assuming you already have the right people, they will also need regular investment for personal development and business improvement.

If the world of Learning and Development has learned anything from the COVID period, it is this:

• Digital methodology is great for self-led Information Transfer.
• Virtual methodology is great for short, small group, Quick Fix Development.
• Face-2-Face methodology is great for larger group, longer-term, Sustainable Growth.

The real power of a well-researched, designed and built programme, is when it applies the right methodology to achieve the desired outcomes of the business. Imagine though, if your commissioned programme incorporates all of the above… This is where the magic happens!

In 2025, business leaders are once again appreciating the need to invest in their people and respecting the power of being in a room together.