It’s that time again. Back-to-school time, that is. We’re in the midst of our firm’s planning sessions for 2020, and the SMPS year has officially kicked off. If you’re like me, you get all geeked out by the fancy school supplies, football seasons beginning, and do your own personal and professional back-to-school planning. Even though school buses indicate that summer has come to an end, they also signify for me a fresh start and new beginning to the year.
It’s important when planning for a year ahead to consider your goals from both a personal and professional standpoint. Determine what’s important and what you want to own—and how you’ll prioritize these goals to achieve what you want to do. Here are some steps that I take when setting goals:
Preparing ahead for key initiatives you want to achieve is one of the most important things we can do to get started. This happens for me by creating long lists of trips I’d like to take, things we want to do around the house, what I want to accomplish for the team at work, and so on. Then, I drill down on those. We have some great trips planned, as well as plans for accomplishing some key initiatives at work that are constantly being refined by our teams.
Some other things I’d like to accomplish within my personal life? I’d like to spend more time traveling and scuba diving with my husband as well as relaxing at home and embracing my time off from work with my husband, boys (when they’re home), and dogs. And, I’d like to take more walks. It helps me to relax and clear my head to be out in nature observing, without headphones, with the dogs and my husband, and simply walking. It’s very simple, but important.
On the professional side, this is a work in progress that’s changing constantly. We’re currently working to integrate several databases and fully implement a CRM process in the firm. This is a long adventure, and we hope to be able to use the system by year-end. Other items include business and marketing/BD planning for each niche and branch office, as well as integrating some new functions into our website. These processes will only be able to be accomplished by dedicated teamwork—where our firm leaders, as well as marketing/BD, IT, HR, and accounting teams, are working together toward accomplishing a big goal that will help the entire firm and all Champlin team members to be successful.
On the SMPS side, we just wrapped up our first board meeting of the fiscal year. We have some fantastic things in store for all of our chapters, members, partners, and friends, such as:
- Planning our first Chapter Leadership Symposium (CLS), which will take place in April 2020
- Implementing some new programs, such as Billhighway, that will enhance the member experience at SMPS events and standardize registrations
- Working to create a package of new learning and educational opportunities
- Continuing to offer diverse conference experiences with Build Business next year in Austin and The Pinnacle Experience in Denver this fall for senior leaders
As I mentioned earlier, it’s all a work in progress, and I hope to share more of the accomplishments with you as the year continues.
Are you in back to school mode? What do you want to accomplish this year? How can we help you? Reach out and let me know!
SMPS President Melissa Lutz, FSMPS, CPSM, is principal of Champlin Architecture in Ohio. She can be reached at melissa.lutz@thinkchamplin.com.
