One of my favourite pastimes is to watch elite sport, usually on TV but once in a while if I’m lucky live. The genuine action, drama and unpredictability of sports like football, cricket and rugby is what really captivates me, but as a business and marketing professional I often think about the professionalism and hard work that goes into top sporting teams.
The planning and preparation that goes into making a great sports team is phenomenal, with the entire squad, back-room staff and management meticulously plotting the steps they must take to achieve success. But alas, like many, I am not a professional sportsman. However, I have taken away a number of things from the sportting world that can be applied to business, too.
Effective planning and preparation will bring individuals and businesses the following benefits:
Provide direction
A good plan will give you direction, as well as a goal, a set of objectives and a strategy to reach them.
Allocate resources
Planning gives you the opportunity to forecast what you might need to meet your objectives.
Reduce uncertainties
Planning and preparation allows you to assess what problems may or may not exist and give you the chance to put strategies in place to tackle them.
Anticipate action
One can’t assume what the competition is doing or how the market will react. Make an educated assessment of what actions you might have to take based on a set of different scenarios.
Facilitate assessment
Following any action, assess how you’ve performed. By planning ahead you can work out how, what and when to make those assessments and put a framework in place to make it happen.
Make good decisions
The more information you have, the better prepared you’ll be to use that knowledge to make the right decisions and give yourself the best possible chance of success.
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