The beginning stages of just about anything can be overwhelming. Whether that is onboarding a new employee at your business or starting a new project, it can be challenging to stay on track at the start. One of the best ways to overcome the challenges of this stage is by staying organized. Specifically, doing so with a plan can be particularly effective—especially for the aforementioned onboarding and starting new projects use cases. This is where the topic of this article comes in: 30-60-90 day plans.
While popular in many businesses, lots of leaders have yet to start taking advantage of 30 60 90 day plans. This guide will help you do exactly that through a deep dive into the concept. We’ll cover the basics of 30-60-90 day plans: what they are, where they’re used, and how you can take full advantage of them with productivity tools like time tracking software.
The Basics of a 30 60 90 Day Plan
Let’s start exploring the basics of 30-60-90 day plans with two frequently asked questions about them:
- What is a 30-60-90 day plan?
- Where are 30-60-90 day plans used?
What is a 30-60-90 day plan?
A 30-60-90 day plan is a short-term plan that covers key tasks and goals for a 90-day period split into three parts. These three sub-periods end on the 30th, 60th, and 90th days of the plan—giving it a distinct, numeric name.
Where are 30-60-90 day plans used?
While you could create a 30-60-90 day plan for just about anything, they’re most commonly used when onboarding new hires in a company. Another popular use case for them is when starting a project or launching a product. Conveniently, the use cases of 30 60 90 day plans are our next point of discussion.
Most Common Use Cases of 30 60 90 Day Plans
Let’s now explore some of the most common use cases for 30-60-90 day plans, starting with hiring and onboarding.
Hiring and Onboarding
The first 90 days are the most important of any professional’s tenure at any business. As a leader, you must provide your new hires with the training, support, and resources they need in this period. Your new employee, on the other hand, must prove that they’re a good fit for their new role. As a result, the onboarding process can become tricky—especially if you don’t have tons of leadership experience. Managing hiring and onboarding with a 30-60-90 plan can be excellent for staying organized, making your work easier in the long term.
Starting a New Project
Starting a new project without a clear direction can lead to lots of inefficiencies. A 30-60-90 day plan can be an excellent way to avoid performance bottlenecks in the beginning stages of your project. You’ll be able to break down your tasks and goals into three 30-day periods to track your progress more easily. If you’re working on a short-term project, a 30-60-90 day plan may even be able to cover the entire project life cycle—making your work even easier.
The Stages of a 30-60-90 Day Plan
Let’s now cover the stages of a typical 30 60 90 day plan. While certain use cases may necessitate some differences, most 30-60-90 plans—especially for onboarding—involve learning, execution, and optimization.
Days 1-30: Learning
The first month of your 30-60-90-day plan should be largely dedicated to learning. In the context of hiring, you should ensure your new hire can learn as much about their new role as possible. This will include the specifics of their responsibilities, the tools they will be using, the people they will be collaborating with, and more.
Days 31-60: Execution
Over the next 30 days, your plan should involve taking advantage of the learned information from the first month. For new hires, this is the period during which they will start to integrate into their roles more thoroughly.
Days 61-90: Optimization
The last 30 days of your 30-60-90 day plan should involve optimizing the results of the first 60 days. At the end of this period, your new employee should already be mostly integrated into your team.
Taking Full Advantage of 30 60 90 Day Plans with Time Tracking
Having explored the key aspects of 30 60 90 plans, let’s now cover how you can take full advantage of them with a productivity tool: time tracking software.
Setting Goals
Setting goals is easy with feature-rich time tracking apps. Software like WebWork can help you track your team’s work with features like Task Management. You can also track progress on longer-term goals outside of your 30-60-90 plan with dedicated project management functionality.
Tracking Progress
Ensuring that your staff are on track with their goals is simple with a high-quality time tracker. You’ll be able to detect any performance bottlenecks holding them back, which you can often eliminate with time tracking as well.
Staying on Track Beyond a 30-60-90 Plan
While staying organized is vital at the beginning of anything, high-quality time trackers can help you maintain this momentum well into the future. A feature-rich app like WebWork will help you simplify your workflows in numerous ways. You’ll especially be able to reduce your time spent on various tedious tasks—particularly relating to your firm’s management.
What to Look for in a Time Tracker for a 30, 60, 90 Day Plan and Beyond
Before closing off this guide, let’s briefly explore what you should look for in a time tracking app to boost your team’s productivity—both as part of a 30-60-90 plan and outside of it.
Tracking Features
One of the most important parts of a high-quality time tracker is its tracking functionality. Apps like WebWork can track your team’s app and website usage, activity levels, attendance, and much more. These will allow you to detect various performance bottlenecks more easily. Chief among these are distractions, which WebWork can even help you eliminate with automated reminders.
Management Functionality
Management functionality offered by high-quality time trackers will help you simplify your work. This will be especially helpful when assessing the effectiveness of your 30-60-90 day plan. However, you’ll also be able to use features like WebWork’s Shift Scheduling to streamline your day-to-day leadership tasks in the long run.
Concluding Thoughts
A 30-60-90 day plan can be a powerful way to stay organized at the beginning of pretty much anything. Whether you’re looking to get the most from a new hire or set a new project up for success, a 30/60/90 plan may be what you need. Taking advantage of them is also pretty simple—especially if you do so with a high-quality time tracker.
