30‑60‑90 day goals can help managers, employees, and job candidates reach their objectives and unlock their full potential. Get started with our template.
When starting a new job or searching for employment, creating a 30-60-90 plan is highly recommended. But what is a 30-60-90 day plan? This type of strategy helps map out key goals with a simplified outline that's easy to follow. The objectives in your plan enable you to outline objectives, optimize productivity, and clearly define your expectations.
In most hybrid or remote positions today, a 30-60-90 day plan is provided or worked on with employees completing the onboarding process. This helps streamline hiring and onboarding and prevents overwhelming new employees with too much information.
Understanding what 30-60-90 day goals are and how to create a plan for your career objectives can help you connect with managers while landing a new position you truly desire.
What are 30-60-90 day goals?
30-60-90 day goals are helpful for those searching for employment and employers themselves. These goals are set for a 30, 60, and 90-day period. The 30-60-90 day plan provides a roadmap for your initial months, helping you stay focused, organized, and aligned with your objectives.
Creating specific, direct, and manageable goals can prevent you from feeling overwhelmed when becoming accustomed to a new job and allow you to learn the ropes faster. Employers will often work directly with employees to craft a 30-60-90 day plan that's tailored to their exact position and role based on a few specific ideas about your duties in the role and what you're responsible for.
If you've recently landed a sales job, you and your manager or another valuable team member might put together a plan that highlights key goals like the number of sales calls completed within a given period, or the goals can be more specific, like having five recorded sales calls before the end of your first 30 days.
Using a 30-60-90 day plan is possible during the interview process, when you're just starting a new job, or even during reviews to assess performance goals with employees.
For businesses, a 30-60-90 day plan makes it easier to engage employees just starting a new position and familiarizing themselves with a company's system and setup. It also encourages employees to make steady progress in achieving their objectives.
When conducting small business hiring, 30-60-90 objectives are extremely useful as they can help a hiring manager narrow down candidates most qualified to fit a role. A 30-60-90 day plan can streamline the onboarding process while ensuring you have hired the most qualified individuals to fill your available positions.
Benefits of using a 30-60-90 day plan
Using a 30-60-90 day plan is ideal if you want to share your company's mission and values with a new employee. If you're starting a new job, a 30-60-90 day plan can help you adjust to the company culture while ensuring you have a guide to measure success every step of the way.
Additional benefits include:
Improving goal-setting
If you're seeking employment, creating a 30-60-90 day plan can help you set concrete goals emphasizing core responsibilities outlined in a job description. These are often appealing to prospective hiring managers and bosses.
Learn to set and reach professional and personal goals using a 30-60-90 plan. Having goals for the first 30, 60, and 90 days at a new job can support your growth when assimilating into a new organization.
Enhancing productivity
A 30-60-90 day plan can drastically enhance workplace productivity, especially for new employees still completing the onboarding process. Highlighting tasks by order of importance can prevent employees from feeling overwhelmed while adjusting to their new roles or trying to grow in their careers. Additionally, using a 30-60-90 day plan is ideal for assisting employees with maintaining their focus and reaching their goals.
Better time management
A 30-60-90 day plan makes it much easier to manage time efficiently. Using actionable and quantifiable goals that can be handled within 30, 60, and 90 days is a great way to prevent employees from feeling overwhelmed. This is especially important for those adapting to a new position or role. Better time management helps streamline workflows and ensures that deadlines and goals are met on time.
How to create a 30-60-90 day plan
Creating a 30-60-90 day plan is highly recommended for anyone interested in landing a new role or developing their career. A 30-60-90 strategy is great for remaining focused and ensuring you're on the right track to meeting the objectives you or your manager have in mind. To start building a 30-60-90 day plan of your own, consider the following:
- Determine your goals. Define goals that are useful for the position you intend to fill or have been hired for. Use SMART goals to remain focused and organized throughout the planning process.
- Write your 30-60-90 day objectives. Write a list of objectives suitable for 30, 60, and 90-day periods.
- Set your top priorities. Once you've written out a list of potential goals in those broad monthly buckets, you can set and outline your top priorities. Create a hierarchy to keep track of your most important tasks and ensure none fall through the cracks.
- Identify your KPIs. Identify the key performance indicators (KPIs) that are most valuable for your role and overall objectives.
Creating a 30-60-90 plan is a unique experience for each individual. Working with different personality types in the workplace may call for personalized 30-60-90 day plans to help individuals succeed in their careers.
Overview
The overview section of your 30-60-90 day plan provides a bird's-eye view of your intentions and goals. It serves as the foundation upon which you build your strategy, offering clarity and alignment of expectations for you and your manager.
Outlining your objectives and desired outcomes creates a roadmap that guides your actions and decisions throughout the designated timeframe. This section ensures that everyone involved understands the purpose and direction of your plan, fostering collaboration and accountability from the outset.
Focus
Once you've established the main objectives of your 30-60-90 day plan, it's essential to develop a clear focus to drive your goal planning. Your focus is the central theme or priority that informs your decision-making process and guides the selection of specific goals and tasks.
By identifying areas of concentration or key initiatives, you can allocate your time and resources effectively, maximizing your impact and progress toward your desired success. This focused approach ensures you remain aligned with your overarching objectives and avoid spreading yourself too thin across multiple priorities.
Expectations
In the expectations section of your 30-60-90 day plan, you articulate the outcomes you anticipate from your strategy. This may include goals related to skill development, performance improvement, or organizational assimilation, depending on your role and objectives.
For instance, if you've entered a leadership position, you might want to practice leadership skills; meanwhile, if you're in a customer-facing position, you might want to receive positive customer feedback within the first 30 days.
Your expectations can also be more broad. For instance, starting a new job can be challenging, so you might set a goal to meet new colleagues during the first month.
By clearly defining your expectations, you set a benchmark for success and establish accountability for yourself and your manager. It's essential to be realistic and specific about what you hope to achieve within the designated timeframe, ensuring your goals are achievable and measurable.
Goals
Before identifying specific goals for your 30-60-90 day plan, it's crucial to consider your strategy's overarching focus or purpose.
Are you primarily focused on adapting to a new role and learning tools and technologies like the customer relationship management platform, exceeding performance expectations like improving customer satisfaction, or positioning yourself for career advancement?
Understanding your plan's focus will help you prioritize goals that align with your objectives and contribute to your overall success. Whether aiming to master new skills, build relationships with key stakeholders, or drive tangible results, your goals should reflect your strategic priorities and aspirations.
Metrics
Monitoring key performance indicators (KPIs) and tracking progress toward your goals is essential for evaluating the effectiveness of your 30-60-90 day plan.
By identifying relevant metrics that align with your role or organizational objectives, you can measure your success and make data-driven decisions to course-correct as needed.
In a sales job or part of an account management team, a metric might be the number of sales calls listened to after your first 30 days or the number of your own recorded calls based on your duties.
Tracking metrics allows you to demonstrate your impact and value to your manager or organization, highlighting your contributions and areas of improvement. Regularly reviewing KPIs provides valuable insights into your performance and helps you focus on achieving your desired outcomes.
30-60-90 day plan template and example
Now that you know the elements required to make a great 30-60-90 day plan, it's time to create your own. Making a 30-60-90 day strategy is simple and straightforward.
Using the template below, you can begin to organize your thoughts and goals to ensure success.
Streamline your onboarding process and set your new hires up for success
Boost productivity and drive results with our 30/60/90 day plan template that guides employees through critical success factors like goal setting and performance metrics.
Best practices for 30-60-90 day plans
Creating a clear action plan is a crucial step during an employee's learning phase that helps them build healthy working relationships and helps businesses maximize employee output. Whether you are looking to hire an SEO expert or if you're an SEO expert in search of employment, there are a few best practices to keep in mind when creating 30-60-90 day plans and templates, such as:
Use SMART goals
Implement SMART goals into your 30-60-90 day plan to help measure your success as you work toward accomplishing tasks.
By defining specific goals, you establish a clear target to work towards. Measurable goals allow you to track your progress and determine whether you're on track to achieve them.
Ensuring goals are achievable and relevant, they are realistic and aligned with your overall objectives. Setting time-bound goals provides a deadline for completion, creating a sense of urgency and accountability.
Remain flexible
Flexibility is vital when creating 30-60-90-day goals, as priorities and circumstances may change over time.
It's essential to keep an open mind and be willing to adjust your tasks and priorities to adapt to evolving objectives or challenges. By remaining flexible, you can better respond to shifting circumstances and ensure your efforts align with your goals.
Ask questions
Engaging with your employer or stakeholders to better understand the organization's priorities and objectives is crucial when developing your 30-60-90 day plan.
Asking questions can give you insights into what areas require focus and help you tailor your goals accordingly. By seeking clarification and feedback, you can ensure that your personal goals are aligned with the organization's mission needs and contribute to its success.
Make adjustments when necessary
Flexibility extends beyond the initial planning phase; it's also important to be prepared to adjust your 30-, 60-, or 90-day plan as needed.
Changes in priorities, resource availability, or external factors may require adjusting your goals or strategies to remain effective. Regularly reviewing your plan and assessing its alignment with current objectives ensures that you stay on track and maximize your impact.
Reflect on your progress
Taking time to reflect on your progress and the actions you've taken is essential for continuous improvement. Evaluate whether you successfully achieved your goals using the 30-60-90 day strategy and identify areas for improvement.
Reflecting on your experiences allows you to learn from successes and challenges, helping you to refine your approach and enhance your effectiveness in future endeavors.
Common mistakes to avoid with 30-60-90 day plans
A 30-60-90 day plan is essential for success in a new role or career advancement. However, several common mistakes can hinder the effectiveness of these plans if not addressed proactively.
By identifying and avoiding these pitfalls, individuals can maximize the impact of their plans and achieve their objectives more efficiently.
Overloading goals
One of the most common mistakes individuals make when creating 30-60-90 day plans is overloading themselves with too many goals and objectives, which can be overwhelming.
Instead, prioritize a few goals that align closely with your role, responsibilities, and overarching objectives. By focusing on quality over quantity, you can devote adequate time and resources to each goal, increasing the likelihood of success.
Neglecting flexibility
Another common mistake is failing to incorporate flexibility into your 30-60-90-day plan. While setting specific goals and timelines is essential, remaining adaptable and responsive to changing circumstances is equally important.
Unexpected challenges, shifting priorities, and new opportunities may arise during the planning period, requiring adjustments to your original plan. By maintaining flexibility and willingness to adapt, you can navigate obstacles more effectively and stay on course towards your objectives.
Lack of regular review and adjustments
A critical mistake to avoid is neglecting regular review and adjustments of your 30-60-90 day plan. Setting goals is just the first step; monitoring progress and making necessary adjustments is essential.
Without ongoing review and evaluation, you may fail to identify emerging issues, missed opportunities, or areas where course correction is needed.
Schedule regular check-ins with yourself or your manager to review progress, reassess priorities, and make any necessary tweaks to your plan to ensure continued alignment with your objectives.
Leverage technology for effective 30-60-90 day planning
Using the right tools can streamline creating a 30-60-90 day plan while ensuring success.
Project management tools allow you to break down your goals into actionable tasks, set deadlines, assign responsibilities, and track progress in real time.
By centralizing all your tasks and objectives in one place, task management software helps you stay organized, focused, and accountable throughout the planning period.
Goal tracking software can also help you set SMART goals and monitor your progress toward them over the course of your 30-60-90 day plan. These tools provide visual representations of your goals, allowing you to see your accomplishments and areas for improvement at a glance.
With built-in reminders and progress-tracking features, goal-tracking software keeps you motivated and on track toward achieving your objectives.
Collaboration platforms can also be beneficial, allowing managers and direct reports to collaborate and communicate quickly and easily. These tools allow you to share updates, get feedback, and collaborate in real time, enabling you to work more efficiently and achieve your goals collectively.
Adapt 30-60-90 day plans for remote work environments
Adapting traditional 30-60-90 day plans to suit virtual environments can ensure success and productivity for the hiring manager and employee.
Remote work brings unique challenges and opportunities, requiring you to use specialized tools and ensure good communication. Use these strategies to adapt your plan for remote work environments.
Utilizing virtual communication channels
Virtual communication channels like video conferencing platforms, instant messaging tools, and email helps individuals stay connected with colleagues, managers, and stakeholders.
Regular check-ins, team meetings, and one-on-one sessions via virtual channels facilitate collaboration and provide updates on progress and any challenges or concerns that may arise during the 30-60-90 day planning process.
Setting clear expectations and deliverables
Clear communication of expectations and deliverables is crucial for remote teams to stay aligned. Setting SMART goals and outlining milestones and deadlines ensures clarity and accountability throughout the planning period.
Establishing transparent communication channels and documenting expectations can help you track your progress and make necessary changes to your plans.
Fostering remote team engagement
Working remotely can lead to feelings of isolation among team members. Fostering remote team engagement through virtual team-building activities, collaborative projects, and information communication channels helps build trust, camaraderie, and morale within the team.
Encouraging participation in virtual meetings, sharing achievements and successes, and celebrating milestones fosters a sense of belonging and motivates remote workers to actively contribute to the team's objectives during the 30-60-90 day planning process.
Ensure success with strategic 30-60-90 goals
Understanding the strategic aspect of 30-60-90 goals is essential as a manager or employee. Regardless of your role, using a 30-60-90 plan is one way to ensure success on a professional and personal level in any industry or market today. When you're ready, carve out time to create a plan that will help improve your career.
With Mailchimp, you can manage and monitor several marketing metrics in a convenient, easy-to-read dashboard. This way, you can track your progress and update your 30-60-90 goals when necessary.