Aha Moments of Managing an Art Business
John Anderson, AHA
April 5, 2022
Series 2—Blog post #6
Priorities and Timeline Actions
Artistic Harmonies Association believes Creative businesses that succeed in today’s dynamic markets are the ones that lead with a bold mission and connect strategy to an everyday timeline! Beginning in late June of 2022, we will start our “AHA Value Series” on Linda Riesenberg Fisler’s Art Chat. There will also be course offerings in Developing Your Art Business.
In our last Art Chat of April 5, 202), we briefly discussed the extreme importance of communicating by prioritizing our thoughts and ideas and highlighting how those relate to value and values. Today, we examine a simple look at developing a timeline with priorities based on particular broad objectives and then breaking each of those into specific goals and tasks to achieve those goals. The following is an example of a Timeline with objectives (See figure 1).
By using a program like Microsoft Excel or another spreadsheet program, you can easily set up your particular phases to meet objectives and create goals to set the priority and time spent you give each. You can provide a breakdown of time in hours, days, weeks, or months in each column. Figure 1 is divided into a six-month time span. You might also want to title each spreadsheet by its overall objective – here, for example, Figure 1, Phase 1, might relate to either a “pre-launch” or “research” objectives.
In the Topic columns are the headings for each phase listed by priority, and, in this case, it is Research. Each tab in Figure 1 covers Months 1, 2, and 3. In this example, Research may be divided into five or more specific goals—Organization—Ideation; Industry Demographics; and Product Differentiation. There are many more areas to research, and usually, one discovery leads to another. By evaluating this research, the stakeholders will make a clear “go/no-go” decision and move to other phases and goals. Take note that in Figure 1, Phase 1 example, the time to complete those goals falls into a 3-month window. Particular timeframes can be adjusted to meet specific phases.
In Figure 2, I have enlarged the Phase 1 example to better illustrate the time frame and goals:
You might note above that the first task is to identify areas of each phase as you determine you might need to get all the information and knowledge you might need to begin the process. Then it’s “Goals First“—keeping in mind that the best way to describe business-specific goals is to use the S.M.A.R.T. goals method and integrate a SWOT analysis. Follow your list of goals by considering their “Priority” in the process of the Research phase. Finally, you notice some goals overlap—this is called “Cross-Function Planning.” For example, Networking is an ongoing goal in your business life-cycle and will appear throughout your planning process.
In these events and tasks, the time elements can be adjusted by the time spent on each goal, but write the goals to be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.
Join us again for the next Art Chat with Linda Riesenberg Fisler and me when we will discuss Managing Commitments to align with YOUR Priorities. And keep in mind that we are here to help you with your art and business development, so send us an email with questions.
Until then, continue to visit the website https//artisticharmoniesassoc.com, read the blogs, and join us in our mission by becoming a member of Artistic Harmonies Association Inc. If you haven’t already, sign-up for our newsletter too! Remember, AHA is seeking Opportunities for Good, and if we can be of service to you, that is good!
Respectfully,
John Anderson