Spring Cleaning: Q2 is upon us

Remember in January when you set all those goals for 2016? Gentle reminder here: the first quarter has officially ended, and Q2 is here.

That gives the perfect opportunity for a little temperature check around your organization to see whether things are on track. It will help energize the team for another push before summer holidays inevitably interrupt. Specifically –

·         How is revenue trending relative to expectations? If your business is seasonal, how does it match up to the previous year’s Q1?

·         Have there been any major changes to your cost base, and/or have you identified the need for big cost outlays? Whether people or real estate or capex investments, now is a good time to assess.

·         Is talent hiring – and retention – on target? If you target schools / an academic calendar, is the groundwork being done now for the fall semester?

·         How is performance? Try to do “unofficial” reviews for not only performance feedback, but also to get a finger on the pulse of the organization / culture.

·         Are your investors happy? Consider having a board meeting, or informally check and see what is on their minds and where they see risks and opportunities.

·         Where are you relative to the big picture? With so much day-to-day effort in startups spent on “keeping the lights on” and “putting out fires”, it is important to take a step back and assess where the company is relatively to the macro market and product goals. 

Take a Friday afternoon to try to ask these questions of yourself and your team, and do some literal and figurative “spring cleaning” in the office. It takes a little time to answer some big questions that dictate the health of your organization.