If you operate on a financial year basis, January is a good time to do a mid-year review of your budget and strategic plan.  The main benefits of doing this mid-year review are to identify any potential issues that may cause problems before they get out of control as well as being able to update targets and goals for the rest of the year.

For example, many times a budget is prepared at the start of the year and never reviewed as it is seen as a static document.  There is no reason why you cannot update the budget to accommodate changes in the operations in the organisation.  This may relate to changes in income from grants, donations, membership or enrolment fees or changes in expenditure due cutting back or undertaking additional programs and activities.

The same applies to your strategic plan as often objectives are set when the plan is initially approved and they relate to timeframes such as three to five years ahead and maybe even longer.  Depending on your organisation and how it operates, strategic plans could also include short term objectives that may be monthly, quarterly, six monthly or yearly.  While they should be reviewed throughout the year, if this has not yet occurred then take the time to review as part of your mid-year review.

As noted at the start, if you undertake the mid-year review it allows you to identify potential issues that may impact on the organisation so they can be addressed, problems may be avoided as well as being able to take advantage of opportunities that may have been identified from the mid-year review.