I get how busy you are. You have direct reports with whom you need to work on their performance process. There are Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) to check in with. You have weekly meetings with your manager. You have goals to achieve. Lastly, you have your own day-to-day whirlwind to manage. It’d be nice to plan a vacation and escape from the chaos!
When in the world will you find time to create your strategic plan for next year? Well, you will, because it provides job security in a time in which there are too few people to do the work. Companies are laying off when goals aren’t met. Government—and, therefore, pricing pressure—is weighing down on pharma more than ever.
Putting a plan together, however, doesn’t have to be a big lift. It’s a culmination of a few key points that will serve as your guidepost for the next year. Starting right now, put your plan down on paper, articulate it to your colleagues, your management, and cross-functionally. When you do this, and then execute your plan, you will be valued more than ever for your hard work because you just showed that you do your job with integrity—you made promises and kept them. Everyone respects individuals who are committed to making a promise and then actually follow through.
So, keep it simple with these 5 steps:
- Define Your Vision and Mission: Clearly articulate your Medical Communications (MedComm,) vision (where you want to go) and mission (why you exist). This sets the foundation for your strategic plan.
- Assess Your Current Situation: Share your current position. This can include a SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) to understand internal and external factors affecting your organization.
- Set Goals and Objectives: Determine your MedComm long-term goals and break them down into specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) objectives.
- Develop Strategies and Tactics: Outline the strategies and tactics you will use to achieve your MedComm goals. This includes defining responsibilities and allocating resources.
- Implement and Monitor: Put your plan into action and establish a system for monitoring progress. Regularly review and adjust your strategies as needed to stay on track.
Make a plan, lay it out in a few slides, and set up a meeting with your team to get their insight. Don’t overproduce—focus on the story at hand. Then, gain buy-in from your leadership and you’ve earned another year of tactical execution that can be focused on delivering better education to healthcare professionals to improve care for patients.
