30 60 90 Day Plan Template for Managers

The 30 60 90 day plan template is a four quadrant framework. The first three quadrants walk managers through each month, while the fourth quadrant holds notes and other helpful information gathered throughout these 90 days.

Days 1-30

In the first 30 days as manager of a new team, the focus should be on talking to everyone. This communication is not only for relationship building, although this is critical. In addition, you will also gain tactical information which will inform the choices you make in the months or years to come.

Things to Learn in Conversation with Each Team Member

1.      Family

2.      Occupation

3.      Recreation

4.      Dreams

5.      Birthday

6.      Perceived Strengths

7.      Perceived Weaknesses

8.      A feel for what’s going on

Things to do Days 1-30

In addition to gaining the information on the list above, you should spend time considering employee, team and company perception versus reality. While this may not be a popular topic within the organization, one of the best things about bringing a newcomer from the outside as manager is that they can bring in new perspectives and challenge perceptions that have previously held sway as “reality.”

Finally, another important thing to do in the first 30 days is to make a small change. If a new manager does not do this, the team and upper management will start to question their effectiveness and, once introduced, this is a difficult perception to shake. Ideally, this change would be around a complaint that you have heard in your extensive conversations with your new team. Being able to change one small thing for the better is a great way to build trust which is a must for the next 30 days to run smoothly.

Days 30-60

During the next 30 days, you will really dig into the process. Comprehensive understanding of the current processes will pave the way for making many more positive changes.

First and foremost, you will continue to communicate. However, the goals of this communication will be less to get a “lay of the land” and more to really uncover as much as possible about the way things work, why and how effective these processes are. You should really dig into issues that your hear about and ask the hard questions. These 30 days should be seen as an opportunity to gather facts relentlessly. Once again, you should be very careful to spend time distinguishing between fiction and fact. When it come to a process or practice, what is the reason behind this particular choice? Does it actually produce the result that is attributed to it? If not, take note.

At the end of this month, another small change should be made. Once again, this change should be informed by what you’ve gathered during this time period. This is because it is important for the team and your supervisors to see that there is value in the difficult questions that you are asking.

Days 60-90: Structured Analysis and Strategy

The last 30 days are going to involve much more engagement with your team as a group. At the end of this time, you should have a vision, a plan, buy in and approval for resources.

SWOT

In your previous  conversation with team members around strengths and weaknesses, you would have been able to make a half SWOT analysis on your own. Now, it is time to create a full SWOT with the entire team’s input. Use this SWOT template and write down suggestion around team/company strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

Learn more about the SWOT Analysis:Impact Matrix

Using the information in the SWOT analysis as a springboard, use the Impact matrix to rate the viability of different opportunities. Once again, this is a team activity, so that each direct report is engaged in the direction that you as manager will take.

Learn more about the Impact Analysis:Vision and Goals

Based on the SWOT and Impact Analysis, determine  the mission/vision statement for the team and the top ten goals to accomplish this year. Depending on how close to year’s end, these goals can be larger of smaller.

Buy-In and Resources

The final actions for days 60-90 involve building on the trust and relationship that you have developed during the previous months. You must get buy-in from the team around the top 10 goals and also receive approval from supervisors for any additional resources that you will need to accomplish these goals. This buy-in from from the team and those you reports to is one of the reasons that it is important to make those two small changes, start building relationships right away and get as much information as possible.

Notes and Other Resources

The notes and resources quadrant is designed to hold all the helpful information that your find during these ninety days. Create items for each team member and document information in the notes section. In addition, the SWOT and Impact Matrix analyses can be nested in this quadrant. Put simply, this quadrant is where all the information that will inform your strategy moving forward is curated.

Conclusion

While you, as a new manager have your job cut out for you and plenty of pressure as you set out making changes and developing a successful strategy, the 30 60 90 Day Plan Template can help them make the most of your introductory period so that you can make as much positive impact as possible in this new role.