“There was a signature to a Bill Belichick team: Whatever the opposition did in the first half, his team tended to take away in the second half.”
David Halberstam on the three-time Super Bowl Champion Head Coach of the New England Patriots football team
Good coaches in any sport come into a game with a solid plan to win. Great coaches are the ones who can assess the action in real-time to determine the adjustments necessary to be victorious. In sports such as football, basketball and soccer, halftime affords the coach a few minutes to analyze the first half action and identify the critical changes that will lead to a win.
Well, halftime of the calendar business year has arrived. What halftime adjustments will you make to ensure your business is successful at the end of the year? Following are three areas to consider as you prepare for the second half of business this year.
Halftime Adjustment #1: Context
At halftime of a football game, the first thing considered is how the context or situation has changed since the game started 0-0. Are we winning or losing? Any injuries? What are the field conditions like? These and other factors give us an indication of what the current context is. Depending on the new situation, we may be required to make changes. If we’re down 21-0, we may have to throw the football more. If the winds are now gusting at 40 mph, we may need to run the ball more.
Similarly, the first thing to consider at halftime of your business year is the current context or situation. What do the key metrics tell us: revenue, operating margins, new accounts, lost accounts, etc.? Are we winning or losing compared to the goals we established at the beginning of the year and relative to the competition?