90 day business plan examples

This shows that you care about their opinion and trust their expertise while getting unique perspectives from multiple vantage points in the organization. Plus, if you start hearing some of the same points from multiple team members, you'll be able to identify the biggest pains, equipping you to make the highest impact changes.

Identify the A players on the team.

An A player is a member of your team that goes above and beyond what's expected in their role. While not every employee will be an A player, you'll want to ensure that critical roles and teams have at least one A player to lead, inspire, and strengthen camaraderie.

From there, you can figure out the existing gaps in staffing and training, whether it's team members who need a lot of guidance and must be coached up to performance or empty roles that need to be filled altogether.

Create goals based on what you've learned.

When you are interviewing or shortly after you're hired, you'll get a feel for the types of pains that the executive team has and the objectives in mind for bringing you on.

Once you have more context about how the organization works, you can take this vision and translate it into concrete, measurable goals that will take your department to the next level.

Diagnose process issues.

Companies of all sizes run into operational issues as they implement processes that are efficient and work at scale. Sometimes, when an executive team isn't aligned with middle management, processes can become unwieldy.

Learn why things are done the way they are and then figure out if there are workarounds you can implement to streamline operations. Perhaps it's as simple as eliminating bottlenecks or adding automation to certain functions.

Put together and implement a hiring plan.

You know your A and B players, and you hopefully have a plan to retain, invest in, and mentor them. However, you'll likely come across gaps that you need to fill and positions that need to be created to eliminate bottlenecks. From there, you'll want to create a hiring plan to execute, both for short-term, middle-term, and long-term needs.

Effect changes in operations.

Speaking of bottlenecks, your final 30 days of your plan should be focusing on the areas of the business that can achieve the results the fastest. Once you've identified these, you can focus on removing these roadblocks to start hitting goals and achieving higher performance.

Contribute to broader company goals.

As a member of the executive team, you'll also be looped in one high-level company initiatives, and the other executives of the company will be relying on you to contribute your deep discipline, expertise, and experience.

Be ready to lean in on executive meetings and contribute to the vision and strategy of the organization as it moves forward.

example of high level goals to meet during first 30-60-90 days for new executives

To write challenging yet feasible performance goals, you need to:

Understand your team's goals.

Try to understand the purpose behind your team's goals. It'll give you more insight into why you and your team should achieve them, motivating you to work as hard as possible to meet those goals.

Identify top priorities.

By connecting your personal responsibilities to your team's goals, you'll know exactly how to align your tasks with the needs of the team, which keeps you accountable and compels you to help your team achieve their goals.

Define specific progress measurements.

Tracking your progress helps you gauge your performance and rate of improvement. To see how you're doing, set up weekly meetings with your manager to ask her what she thinks of your work and track the improvement of your own performance metrics, like the growth of your blog posts' average views or the amount of qualified leads your eBooks generate.

Reaching your performance goals isn't the only path toward future success in your new role, though. You also need to study the ins and outs of your team and company, take initiative, and develop relationships with coworkers — all things that a lot of new hires underestimate the importance of.

Consider setting the following types of goals during each stage of your 30-60-90 day plan:

Learning Goals How will you absorb as much information as possible about your company, team, and role?
Initiative Goals - What will you do to stand out?
Personal Goals - How will you integrate with your company and team?

Aiming to achieve these types of goals will help you hit the ground running in all the right areas of your job. And if you stick to your plan, you'll notice you'll be able to spend less time learning and more time executing.

30-60-90 Day Plan Template

Download Your Free Template

HubSpot's 30-60-90 day plan template includes space for all key elements of your plan — primers, themes, and goals — making it easy for both you and your manager to see exactly where you are in the plan, what comes next, and how things are going so far.

While our template is a great starting point, it's worth cross-referencing this high-level plan with a more detailed description of your goals and desired outcomes to ensure you're aligned with company expectations.

30-60-90 Day Plan Example

Using our template, we've created a quick 30-60-90 plan example for new employees.

Many new hires are eager to impress, so they dive head-first into their work or try to make suggestions about their team's process with limited experience in how their new team operates. But have patience.

Understanding your company's vision and your team's existing strategy is crucial for producing high-quality work and actually making an impact. If you don't know the purpose behind your role or the optimal way to perform, you'll risk missing the mark and your early efforts won't pay off the way you expect them to.

It's always better to over-prepare than under-prepare. And it's okay to take time to learn the ropes — it pays huge dividends in the long run. In the first 30 days of your employment, your priority is to be a sponge and soak in as much information as possible. Once you do that, you can then try to improve more specific parts of your team's work style.

Theme: Be a Sponge

Study my company's mission, vision, and overarching strategy.
Read my company's culture code to learn more about our company culture and why we implement it.
Read the customer persona and target audience overview to truly understand who our customers are, their pain points, and how our product and content can help them.
Meet with my team's director to learn about how meeting our goals will help our business grow.
Read up on our team's new SEO strategy, editorial process, and traffic goals.
Learn how to use the SEO Insights Report to plan and structure blog posts.
Review my team's pillar-cluster model overview and understand how to match posts to clusters.
Meet with my manager to learn more about her expectations.
Complete new hire training and pass the test with a 90% or higher.
Be able to write 3 blog posts per week.
Run the Facebook Instant Article experiment that my manager recommended me to do.
Grab coffee with everyone on my team, so I can get to know them on a professional and personal level.

By the end of your first 60 days, you should ramp up your workload, start overachieving, and make a name for yourself on your team.

To do this, start speaking up more at meetings. Don't be afraid to share your ideas about improving your team's processes. This shows you're quickly conquering the learning curve and recognizing some flaws that your colleagues might have overlooked. You still have a fresh perspective on the company, so your insight is invaluable.

Theme: Be a Contributor

Learn how to optimize a new post from scratch based on both the SEO Insights Report and my own competitive research.
Read every other marketing team's wiki page to learn about other marketing initiatives and how our entire department works together to grow our business.
Deep dive into my company's product roadmap and strategy to fully grasp our mission and vision.
Be able to write 5 blog posts per week.
Be down to one cycle of edits per post.
Understand how to edit a guest post -- clean up at least one rough draft.
Share content strategy ideas at my team's monthly meeting and ask if I can spearhead the project to boost blog traffic.
Ask my manager if I can oversee Facebook messenger and Slack distribution strategy.
Meet with my colleagues on other teams to learn about their marketing initiatives and develop relationships outside of my team.

By the end of your first three months, you should have a firm grasp of your role, feel confident about your abilities, and be on the cusp of making a breakthrough contribution to your team. Instead of reacting to problems that pop up at random, be proactive and spearhead a new initiative for your team.

You should also be cognizant of how you can collaborate with other teams to improve your own team's processes. By taking on some new projects outside of your main role, you'll start turning some heads and catch the attention of the department at large.

Theme: Be a Leader

Do an analysis of my highest and lowest-performing blog post to date. How can I use this information to optimize new content so it performs better out of the gate?
Be comfortable with writing five blog posts per week
Edit one guest post per week
Try to have 75% of my blog posts not require revisions.
Write at least one new post that generates over 10,000 views in one month.
Ask SEO team if they want to partner with the product marketing team to brainstorm content topics related to our product road map.
Ask social media team if they're willing to develop a relationship where we can share each other's content.
Ask sales team what our customers' pain points are, so we can write content that our target audience craves and help them close more qualified leads.

30-60-90 day plan template example: marketing new hire

Making the Most of Your First Months

The first few months at a new job are critical in answering key questions: Is the company a good fit? Can you meet (and exceed) expectations? What does your long-term career plan look like?

Building a robust 30-60-90 day plan can take some of the pressure off by providing a framework for success that combines big ideas with specific goals to help drive success.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in April 2019 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

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Use this template to set up a 30/60/90 day sales training and onboarding plan.

30-60-90 Day Plan: 2023 Guide + Example

Reviewed By

Updated: Dec 22, 2022, 12:00pm

What is a 30-60-90 day plan, benefits of a 30-60-90 day plan, elements of a 30-60-90 day plan, when to make a 30-60-90 day plan, how to make a 30-60-90 day plan in 5 steps, 30-60-90 plan example, frequently asked questions (faqs).

It can take new employees time to settle in and learn the ropes of a new position. However, employers want to see productivity sooner than later. This is why developing a 30-60-90 day plan is a good idea. It’s a plan that outlines target milestones for employees to hit in the first 30, 60 and 90 days of employment. Follow along to learn more about the 30-60-90-day plan and how to create your own. To help give your employees the best start possible.

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A 30-60-90 day plan is a document that is created either by a new employee or a hiring manager and outlines the goals to be accomplished during the first three months of employment. It breaks goals down into 30-, 60- and 90-day increments. Employees work to hit set milestones that are aligned with the mission of the organization. The goal is to maximize employee output in the first days of being hired, days which can be overwhelming and confusing in many cases. The plan helps simplify what the employee should be doing and focusing on.

The 30-60-90 day plan can be written by the employee or by the hiring manager. Managers may want employees to create their own plans to get the buy-in for the milestones and goals.

What Makes a Good 30-60-90 Day Plan?

A good 30-60-90 day plan takes larger goals and breaks them down into smaller, more digestible milestones. The plan has an ultimate goal set for 90 days and shows steps that are accomplished along the way at the 30- and 60-day marks. While the goals should be accomplishable, they should also be challenging.

A good plan also aligns with the mission of the company. Managers want employees to work on goals that move the company forward. Otherwise, the company may not meet its objectives and goals.

When managers utilize a 30-60-90 day plan for onboarding new employees , they help identify the key goals for the employee in the early days of employment. Not only does it set the parameters for success, but it also empowers employees to manage their own work to a large degree. When employees know what is expected of them, they can spend their day focusing on achieving those goals rather than on tasks that don’t support the plan. The 30-60-90 day plan is the roadmap for success.

A good 30-60-90 day plan has common components that are designed to explain expectations clearly. The first element of the plan is to have the company mission or purpose of the work stated. Then, of course, there are the goals. Goals should be concrete with measurable objectives. A good 30-60-90 day plan also lists resources to help employees accomplish their goals.

Make a 30-60-90 day plan when you onboard a new employee. It will serve as a way to help transition them from a new employee to a valuable team member in a short amount of time. You can also use a 30-60-90 day plan when rolling out new initiatives. This will help existing employees understand the goals and provide a workable path to accomplishing them.

It may also be helpful for a prospective employee to create a 30-60-90 day plan when preparing for an interview. This will show the hiring manager that you are serious about hitting the ground running and making an impact toward objectives and goals.

A 30-60-90 day plan doesn’t need to be complicated. It simply outlines the main objectives of a new employee and gives them guidance on how to accomplish them.

Here’s how to create a 30-60-90 day play in five easy steps:

1. Write the company mission

The very first thing that you should do when creating a 30-60-90 day plan is to identify and write down the company mission. Remember that the plan should align with the company’s mission and goals. By having it on the page for the employee to review, you can help the employee understand their role in the bigger picture.

2. Create the first 30 days’ objectives

Write down the goals for the first 30 days. Limit the goals to three to five to keep things clear. For each goal, write down a key metric that will be used to measure whether the goal is achieved or not.

3. Create the next 60- and 90-day objectives

Just as you did for the first 30 days, write down key goals for the first 60 days. Remember to keep goals limited to three to five goals for clarity. Have a key metric stated for each goal. Do the same for the first 90 days.

4. Provide ample resources for the employee

Because the plan is a guide, you should include any relevant resources that will help the employee accomplish their goals. Resources may include listing certain people to speak with or using certain computer-led tutorials. Give the employee the resources needed to succeed with as little oversight as possible.

5. Evaluate progress

For a 30-60-90 day plan to work, you need to give it time (as the name suggests). Part of the plan is to give said time and then follow-up with an evaluation. Did the employee manage to use the resources provided to hit their objectives?

Plan For: Employee name Date: August 1, 2022

Company Mission: To help consumers find the right resources for retirement and invest their money with our firm.

Goal 1: To complete all onboarding training. All boxes should be checked as complete in the employee file. Goal 2: Review investment products and become familiar with the key benefits. Goal 3: Pass state and federal licensing requirements to sell investment products.

Goal 1: Make first sales calls to potential clients. Goal 2: Work with your manager to develop a key product list to offer clients. Goal 3: Get the first sale in the program.

Goal 1: Consistently make 50 outbound calls per day. Goal 2: Hold at least three sales appointments per day. Goal 3: Generate at least $500,000 in sales.

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Bottom Line

A 30-60-90 day plan is a great way to help onboard new employees (or get an edge in an interview process) because it shows the key objectives for the first three months of employment. It aligns with the company’s mission, helping the employee integrate quickly into becoming a valuable team member. Set realistic goals in a 30-60-90 day plan to see success and build confidence in new team members.

The 30-60-90 day plan is just one tool in the employer’s toolkit. For more insights into managing staff and building strong teams, check out our article on strategic human resource management .

How do I answer what I will do in the first 30-60-90 days?

Prepare for this question in an interview. Make sure you approach it from the perspective of the company’s goals and say what you plan on accomplishing based on what you know about the job description. Don’t hesitate to ask questions to clarify the role before answering the question.

How many slides should a 30-60-90 day plan be?

If you are presenting a plan in a PowerPoint, you want to use three to four slides. The first slide should outline the mission and overall objective of the company, while the next three slides review the goals. Use one slide for each month.

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How to write the perfect 90-day plan

Borrow our templates for a 90-day onboarding plan that will help new hires succeed.

Writer, Editor, Beard Puller

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5-second summary

A comprehensive 90-day plan doesn’t just set expectations for new hires, it makes them feel welcome and included.
Using the “buddy system” can make a 90-day plan even more effective.
Building in milestones for checkpoints at 30, 60, and 90 days will ensure that new team members are set up for success throughout the onboarding process.

The first 90 days of a new job usually involve a pretty steep learning curve. There’s so much to absorb. So many people to meet. If you’re the new hire, you want to prove yourself. If you’re the hiring manager, you want to set that person up for success.

Based on our own onboarding practices, we’ve learned that using a 90-day plan can make it easier for newbies to get up to speed, understand their roles, and establish a better sense of team and company culture. Check out our templates below to see what we include. If you’re starting at a new company that doesn’t already use 90-day plans, consider using the templates as a starting point for gathering information. Schedule time with your new manager or a veteran coworker to fill in the blanks.

5 science-backed team activities that will actually improve performance

What is a 90-day action plan.

A 90-day plan is a framework for planning out how to onboard, acclimate, and educate new team members. It sets expectations for what the person will be expected to deliver in their first 90 days, which can include both learning goals and performance goals. Some people also refer to it as a 90-day action plan, which adds a nice emphasis on proactivity.

Similar to SMART goals , a 90-day plan should define the specific details that will allow the new employee to achieve success. A well-written plan should spell out how this person’s new role and day-to-day duties level up to company metrics and long-term plans. It should help them define priorities and check points for follow-ups on their progress.

At Atlassian, we view someone’s first 90 days as a period of learning, discovery, and relationship building. We don’t view this time as a probationary period during which someone must prove themselves or risk reprimand. Rather, the goal is to make people feel comfortable, informed, and confident.

69 percent of employees are more likely to stay with a company for three years if they experienced great onboarding. Society For Human Resources Management

Ideally, a 90-day plan should:

Serve as a single reference point for resources, outlets for support, and clarity on responsibilities and goals
Introduce and foster an environment that supports regular growth conversations with managers so the employee can envision their path for advancement
Orient the new employee to company and team culture by emphasizing relationships and shared objectives
Reinforce strategies that support a growth mindset and a proactive work style

What should a 90-day plan include?

Keep in mind that an effective 90-day plan will vary depending on your company, goals, and the employee’s needs.

Here are some great questions to think about when writing a 90-day plan for a new team member:

How can you use this plan to help a new team member succeed?
What quick wins can they ship to gain momentum?
Who are the key stakeholders this person needs to know about?
Since this person is coming in with a “clean slate” mindset, are there fresh insights you’d like them to contribute?
What feedback and observations would you like the new hire to include in a 90-day wrap-up blog or other written summary?

As you’ll see in our templates, our 90-day plans lead off with an introduction. That helps the rest of the team experience someone’s writing voice, see pictures of family and friends, and learn about interests, hobbies, and whatever else they’d like to offer about themselves. One way to make a 90-day plan more effective is to use the buddy system like we do at Atlassian. Buddies show new teammates the ropes, introduce them to other Atlassians, act as go-to people for the common questions that arise in the first few months of any new job, and generally help make the transition smoother.

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The first 90 days are precious. It’s important to have the right plan – and people – to act as a guide.

How to build a 90-day plan

Generally speaking, there are a few organizing principles to focus on. They’re based in time milestones, i.e. Week 1, Day 30, Day 60, Day-90 wrap up.

Consistent, frequent check-ins are very important, because throughout the plan, you’ll be defining goals for what should be learned or delivered. The power of spelling it all out can’t be overstated. It’s the difference between clarity and confusion or empowerment and ineffectiveness.

Here’s an example. It’s divided by outcomes and action items. These are suggestions, so feel free to tailor as you see fit.

P.S. 90-day onboarding plans are good for your company culture

The practice of a 90-day plan has even more to offer than orienting someone to personal goals. It isn’t just a task list, it’s the foundation for working together, learning together, and understanding the team and company culture.

As mentioned above, at Atlassian we don’t view someone’s first 90 days as a trial period or proving ground. To the contrary, we encourage an emphasis on knowledge gathering and sharing, and relationship building. Initial tasks, goals, and deliverables should focus on helping someone feel more comfortable and confident about the road ahead – not less so.

Which is to say, don’t overwhelm your newbies.

Regular check-ins, honest feedback (about systems, company habits, points of uncertainty), and the support of learning (and failing), set the groundwork for open communication. This is the bedrock of trust, which should underpin all team and company interactions.

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How to Create a 30 60 90 Days Plan: Ultimate Guide with Examples

Kate william.

16 November 2022

Table Of Contents

Elements You Need to Create a 30 60 90 Day Plan?

A specific focus, top priorities, smart goals, smart goal: specific, smart goal: measurable, smart goal: achievable, smart goal: realistic, smart goal: timely.

30 60 90 Days Sales Plan Example

Wondering how to create a 30-60-90-day plan to achieve your goals during the first 90 days at your new company? Well, when you land a new job, or when you want to create a business strategy, you feel like you’re on top of the world.

But, this excitement starts to fade once you realize you don’t have a plan to manage your work. You’ll be surprised to know that more than 80% of small business executives don’t have a strategic plan.

Hopefully, there is a way to create a goal-oriented plan to complete all your work and achieve the right success. It’s popularly known as a 30 60 90 day plan (for employees) or a 30 60 90 business plan(for businesses).

This plan will help you gather information, master new responsibilities, and leave an impact in your professional space. Are you a newbie trying to create a 30 60 90 day plan for your business? Don’t worry! Here’s everything you need to know about a 30 60 90 day plan and how to create one.

What is a 30-60-90-Day Plan?

A 30-60 90-day plan is a plan most businesses and sales managers use and follow to create tangible goals. You can set goals and structure time with a 30-60-90 plan. Anyone can make these goal-oriented plans to keep track of their progress or to learn something.

An amazing thing about this plan is that it can be applied to any team, task, or organization. For example, you can create a:

If you are a new employee, setting a 30 60 90 days plan can help you set realistic goals to run smoothly. A quick heads up for the new employees: You can create a 30 60 90 days plan either d uring the final stages of an interview process or during the first week of the job.

What are the Benefits of Creating a 30 60 90 Plan?

Before going further, you may want to know about the elements of a 30 60 90 day plan. Like its name, you have to create a plan into three chunks- 30, 60, and 90 days.

In each 30-day phase, you’ll require: A Specific focus, Top priority, SMART Goals, and Success Metrics.

Before that, things will be smooth if you have an oven-ready template for this.

Here’s a ready-to-use first 30 days in a new job template.

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You can’t create an actionable plan without a specific focus. If you are a business owner, your focus for the first 30 months should be on learning. You can focus on working towards your goal for the second month. For the final month, your primary focus should be to become a leader.

Your priorities should always be broader than your goals and more specific than your focus. Within this 30-60-90-day phase, you have to determine your top priorities. Your top priorities could include learning your company’s internal process, completing your role, finding solutions to resolve the company’s problems, etc.

87% of the people fail to gain success because their goals are not SMART. Setting SMART goals and having a well-put 30 60 90 business plan helps you fulfill your priorities with clear motivation and focus. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely. Once you are all set with your priorities, set SMART goals to achieve success.

Here’s How You Can Create a SMART Goal-

Ask yourself the five ‘W’ questions to set specific smart goals. These questions are-

For example, a goal would be “I want to be healthy.” A more specific goal would be “I want to start jogging and work out to be more healthy.”

Without measuring criteria, you won’t be able to track your progress. 80% of businesses admitted that their goals are specific and measurable. To make your business goals measurable, ask yourself the following questions:

For example, “I want to start jogging and work out every day to lose five pounds from my body.”

You must achieve the goals you set. If your goal isn’t attainable or achievable, then it’s not a SMART goal. Make sure to ask yourself these questions:

A SMART Goal should be realistic enough for you to achieve it. Ask these questions:

For example, “I want to lose five pounds within two months.” – This is a realistic goal. “I want to lose five pounds within two days.”- Unrealistic goal.

You have to make your goal time-bound to fulfill it successfully. Ensure your goal has a deadline. If you follow a start and end date, there will be no longer urgency or low motivation to achieve the goal. To set a timely goal, ask these questions to yourself:

For example, “I will start jogging and workout from the 1st of September, and I will lose five pounds by the end of November.” It’s best to break down your SMART goals into three categories: Learning, Performance, and Personal goals.

Learning Goals

To set a clear learning goal, you can ask these questions to yourself-

Performance Goals

These goals should only focus on things you want to fulfill as a part of your business plan or new job role. You can set the performance goals by asking yourself this question:

What progress can I make within the 30-60-90-day period?

Personal Goals

You can set personal goals to build a good relationship with your company or business team. Setting a personal goal will help you to find your position within the company. You can create personal goals by asking yourself:

For each specific goal you made for the 30 60 90 days plan, you’ll need at least one metric to determine progress. For each 30 days goal, set a success metric for yourself that’ll track your improvement.

You can ask yourself questions to set a success metric. For example, “What is success for me, and how will I measure it?”

The 30 days of the first month of our 30-60 90-day business plan will entirely be for your learning cycle. During this time, you will learn about the company, your part, and your position in the company. You will learn about your goal and activities within the company.

If you are already working in a company and seeking a promotion, creating a 30-60 90-day business plan won’t be a headache for you. If you are a newbie using a business plan can be a little tricky. You can resolve this by asking your company’s managers and colleagues some questions to create an outline for the plan.

60 Days (Second Month): Plan to be a Worker

In the second month, you have to start implementing the learnings you gathered during the first 30 days of your business plan. You can start working on your goal by using the learning from the first 30 days.

When you try to hone a new skill, you should accept criticism. In this stage, you should seek feedback from your superiors and colleagues. It can be via an online survey as well. In this second month, you can work on landing New clients and working on your weekly goals!

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90 Days (Third Month): Plan to be a Leader

In the final month of your 30-60 90-day business plan, you should be confident about your responsibility and role in the company. In this final month, you will understand how your company runs, your duty, how one thing impacts another, etc.

You would also understand how realistic changes can benefit your company and co-workers. In this phase of your 30 60 90 days business plan, you will take the lead in performing tasks. You will handle essential projects and communicate with your colleagues to bring progress within the company.

Here is a template of a 30 60 90 days sales plan for a sales representative. If you want to inspire what goals you should set, consider this plan as your savior!

Use this 30-60 90-day plan as an example or template to understand how to create your own sales or business plan. You might need to create online surveys to understand market strategies, employee preferences, and customer feedback and make a complete plan. SurveySparrow can be your go-to platform for all your online survey needs, business goals and communication, aligned workflows, customer feedback, and employee satisfaction .

7 Tips to Create an Actionable 30 60 90 Day Plan

1. Don’t create vague goals. When you create your own 30 60 90 days plan, make sure to think about your overall priorities. Before creating your 30-60 90-day business plan, learn why the company is hiring you. And create your priorities based on that.

For example, if you are getting hired for a senior-level job role, your responsibility will be to lead a team or resolve the company’s problem. Based on this responsibility, you can create your specific SMART business goal .

2. Asking questions is a crucial thing to creating a specific and realistic goal. Whether you are a new employee or still in the interview phase, ask questions. You can ask your managers or new co-employees about the company and your role. It will help you to create more clear priorities in your 30 60 90 days plan.

3. Make the plan short and skimmable. Don’t write one-two page long extended plans in the 30-60-90-day plan template.

4. Avoid any misinterpretation of your plan by making it specific. Use the date, time, and numbers to make it a SMART goal.

5. Always have a growth mindset while following a business or sales plan. If anything goes wrong or not according to the plan, learn from the mistakes.

6. Developing a healthy relationship with your co-workers, clients, and potential leads is a key factor in your 30-60 90-day plan. If you are a new employee, always look for setting several meetings with your managers, colleagues, clients, potential leads, etc. You’ll get a fair share of experience this way.

For instance, ask questions to know more about them, the company culture, processes, challenges, and other relevant questions.

7. It’s essential to decide how you’ll measure your success. Some success metrics are quantifiable, for example – Revenues . And some are qualitative, for example, customer feedback . Try to use qualitative metrics to measure your success.

Wrapping Up

Your 30-60 90-day plan is a conversational tool you should swear by to bring growth and development for you and your company. This plan will include a specific timeline, objective, and SMART goals to measure success.

The plan will help you understand your responsibility within your company. You will be able to show your skills better and be really productive. Learning new work roles in just three months can be a hassle! But with our 30-60 90-day plan guidelines and examples, you’re all set to tackle the responsibilities in your new job role.

Happy planning!

Content Marketer at SurveySparrow

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Unlock the Power of the 90 Day Business Plan

90-day business plans are all the rage and for good reason. 90 days is short enough that you don’t lose focus but long enough that you can make significant progress toward goals. It’s really the perfect amount of time for a plan.

When I worked in the corporate world, we created detailed business plans at the first of the year that laid out strategies and tactics for the whole year, adding timelines all the way through December.

We spent massive amounts of time and manpower on this exercise. And then a few months or even weeks later, something changed and all the sudden we had new priorities. Those carefully crafted plans had to be redone.

It was crazy!

In this fast-paced world, strategies or tactics that you decide on at the beginning of the year may be outdated a few months later. A better system is to create a very high-level annual plan and save the details for your 90 day plan. Breaking your annual plan into 90-day plans gives you the flexibility you need to achieve your goals.

A 90-day business plan gives you the flexibility you need to achieve your goals.

A 90-day plan also helps you gain momentum. You don’t want to wait until the end of the year to see results, do you? No, you want to see success early in the year, and regularly thereafter, because that will keep you motivated to keep going.

Here’s the process that I follow when crafting a new 90-day business plan.

Unlock the Power of the 90-Day Business Plan - featured image

This post contains affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission if you make a purchase using this link. For more information, see my full disclaimer here .

Review and reflect on the last 90 days

If you haven’t reviewed your progress, then that’s the place to start. Look back at the previous 90-day period. Which goals are on target and which do you need to focus on? Think about what’s working well and what needs improvement. Also, look at your plan from last quarter. Did you accomplish everything on your list?

One of the things I learned in a previous review is that I hadn’t been referring back to my 90-day business plan during the quarter. I wrote the plan and stuck it in my Filofax , but I don’t think I looked at it again. As a result, I felt scattered and unfocused.

Now, I keep my 90-day plan in an Asana board , so it’s always just a click away.

Your 90 day plan should be an extension of your annual plan

Once you’ve reviewed the last quarter, it’s time to take a look at your annual goals . Compare where you are now with what you need to accomplish the remainder of the year. By keeping an eye on your annual goals, you can adjust your quarterly plan as needed. Achieving your 90-day goals puts you on track to achieve your annual goals.

If you find yourself getting caught up in all the things you “have to do” each day, then click thru to learn how to see the big picture in your small business.

However, you don’t have to include every category from your annual plan in your 90-day business plan. There may be areas that you are going to focus on more in the 1st quarter than the 3rd, etc. For example, launching a course may be in your 3rd quarter plan, but your priority in the 1 st quarter was to hire a VA.

There may also be seasonal considerations in your planning. Are you going to take time off during the current 90 day period? If so, an item on your 90-day plan might be to have enough blog posts and newsletters pre-written to cover the time that you are on vacation so that you can relax and enjoy yourself.

Don’t be afraid to include personal goals

I’ve written before about my quest for work + life balance . I spent too many of my corporate years neglecting my personal life in favor of work. I know that in order to achieve any semblance of balance, I need to include non-business goals & strategies in my plans.

My plan includes physical goals, goals related to my home, volunteer work etc. I’ve done really well developing a routine for physical activity and I enjoy the time spent exercising. However, I know that’s a habit that is so easy for me to backslide on. It requires constant vigilance, so I continue to add it to my quarterly, monthly, and even daily plans.

Limit the projects that you focus on

Choose three business objectives to focus on in each 90-day plan. If you choose more than three business objectives, it will be very hard to stay focused. These should be your top priorities – the projects or initiatives that will really move the needle in your business.

If you want to be even more focused, then go all-in on one objective for the quarter.

This concept is based on a book by Gary Keller called The One Thing , where he asks you to think about:

What is the one thing I can do right now, that by doing it everything else will become easier or unnecessary?

90 days is the perfect amount of time to focus on a high-value project. Think about the progress that you could make by picking ONE thing every quarter and really giving it your all!

Think about the progress you could make by picking ONE thing every quarter and giving it your all!

Don’t forget about your personal development

When you’re in business for yourself, you can’t afford to let your skills slide. You must work to continually increase your marketing knowledge, learn new ways to help your clients prosper, discover emerging technology, etc.

In fact, you could easily spend all your time learning and no time at all actually implementing what you learn. That’s a common time trap that many solopreneurs fall into , much to the detriment of their businesses!

The solution is to create and follow a personal development plan. I strongly encourage you to include one development objective in each 90-day plan. Have you purchased a course that you haven’t completed yet? Or maybe there’s a business book that you want to read or listen to? Include that in your plan.

Be sure to include your action plans

A plan without action items is just a pipe dream. After you determine your focused objectives for the quarter, break each one down into three to five action items. These should be major steps toward completing the objective. Don’t get too detailed at this point or you may lose sight of the forest for the trees.

And, of course, be sure to include due dates for each action item.

Then, put it all in your task management system, whether that’s a paper planner, a spreadsheet, or an app like Asana or Trello.

Be sure to include a task to repeat this exercise every quarter.

How will you track your progress?

You need to be able to see what you’ve accomplished. There are lots of ways you could track your progress – in a spreadsheet, on a printable, in an Evernote checklist, or an app. Choose a method that works for you.

I use a combination. I have a spreadsheet with annual numeric goals, which is broken down by quarter and month, so I can see exactly where I stand on the metrics.

My 90-day business plan lives in Asana so that I can access all my projects and tasks on my laptop, iPad, or phone. This is how I stay on top of the major action items and day-to-day activities derived from my 90-day plan.

Hi Amber, I do. I have a Filofax that sits on the corner of my desk. I put my annual, 90-day, monthly, and weekly plans in it – each on a separate page. I like having the paper version, so that I can just pick it up and get a quick look at the high level, without being distracted by all the day-to-day tasks. I also write out what I want to accomplish that day (both for work and life) and time block the day. I keep this spread – daily plan and time blocks – open. So I’m referring to both Asana and my Filofax throughout the day. I get really detailed in Asana. For example, I might have “write & publish blog post” written in the daily plan in my Filofax, where Asana details every step in the process.

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Hey do you have a printable version of your 90 day planner?

Hey Christina, I don’t have one that’s shareable right now. I’ll add that to my list of things to create, though. 🙂

The 30-60-90 Day Plan: Your Secret Weapon for New Job Success (Template Included!)

Hot jobs on the muse.

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Whether you’re preparing for an interview or prepping for a new job, making a 30-60-90 day plan can help you set yourself up for success.

A 30-60-90 day plan is what it sounds like: a document that articulates your intentions for the first 30, 60, and 90 days of a new job. It lists your high-level priorities and actionable goals, as well as the metrics you’ll use to measure success in those first three months. Done well, it will help you make a positive first impression on your new employer—or the hiring manager you hope will be your future boss.

SEARCH OPEN JOBS ON THE MUSE! See who’s hiring here , and you can even filter your search by benefits, company size, remote opportunities, and more. Then, sign up for our newsletter and we’ll deliver advice on landing the job right to you.

That may sound like a lot, but luckily we’ve got detailed instructions on how to go about making a 30-60-90 day plan, plus a template to guide you.

Download the 30-60-90 day plan template here .

When to Make a 30-60-90 Day Plan

Many 30-60-90 day plans follow a similar structure, but the level of detail may vary depending on your situation. There are two main times when you might make one: preparing for an interview or starting a new job.

Note: If you’re a manager who wants to make an onboarding plan to help your new hires hit the ground running (without constantly having to ask you what they should do next), you should consider using our self-onboarding tool , a template for outlining your month-one goals for a new hire, as well as creating a week-by-week plan with a thorough list of meetings, readings, and tasks they should tackle in their first month on the job.

Making a 30-60-90 Day Plan for an Interview

If you’ve made it to a late-stage job interview, you may be asked something along the lines of, “What would your first 30, 60, or 90 days look like in this role?” It’s a good idea to prepare to answer this regardless of what level role you’re interviewing for, but it’s more common for higher-level positions.

With a question like this, the interviewer is likely trying to understand your thought process going into the job more than anything. They want to know: Do you understand the role and what it would require of you? Can you get up to speed quickly and start contributing early on? Do your ideas show that you’re the right candidate to fill this particular position?

Even if you’re not explicitly asked this interview question, coming prepared with a plan can help you wow the hiring manager and stand out among other applicants. “Employers are looking for people who are agile and proactive,” says leadership consultant Michael Watkins, author of The First 90 Days: Proven Strategies for Getting Up to Speed Faster and Smarter . “By talking about how you would approach your first 90 days, you demonstrate agility and proactiveness.”

In other cases—more commonly for higher-level management or executive roles—you may be asked to do an interview presentation . Creating a 30-60-90 day plan to present is a great way to show the hiring manager that you understand the challenges a company or department is facing and you have a clear plan for tackling them.

Be sure to include a few specific ideas in your interview presentation—depending on the role you’re interviewing for, that could be suggestions for ways to cut costs, increase sales, or improve customer satisfaction. You want to convey: “I’ve got five good ideas, and when you hire me, I’ve got 50 more,” says career coach Eliot Kaplan , who spent 18 years as Vice President of Talent Acquisition at Hearst Magazines.

Making a 30-60-90 Day Plan for a New Job

If you’re starting a new job, your new manager may explicitly ask for a 30-60-90 day plan, or you may want to create one for yourself to help ease the transition to your new role. In either case, the goal is to set yourself up to hit the ground running—and to be sure you’re running in the right direction.

“If you come in without a game plan and try to tackle everything, you’re going to get nothing done,” Kaplan says. “Come up with a couple things you can accomplish successfully.”

If you’ve already started the position, you’ll have access to internal resources and your new coworkers, which will make it easier to create a detailed, realistic plan. If there are things you’re unsure about—like goals, expectations, or typical benchmarks—ask! You’ll likely impress your new colleagues with how proactive you are, but more importantly, you’ll gather the information you need to be successful.

Elements of a 30-60-90 Day Plan

Before you’re ready to get down to the details of your 30-60-90 plan, you’ll want to think about the high-level elements it needs to include. As the name suggests, you want to think of your plan in 30-, 60-, and 90-day chunks. For each phase, you’ll need to:

Our 30-60-90 day plan template has all these items laid out for you.

Typically, the first month of a new job is about learning, the second is about planning and beginning to contribute, and the third is about execution and—when applicable—initiating changes to the status quo. Your specific monthly focus might change based on your role and the company, however.

Within those broad monthly buckets, outline your high-level priorities for each phase. For instance, your priorities for different phases could include learning internal processes, performing your role independently, or proposing solutions to a problem facing the company. Your priorities should be more specific than your focuses, but broader than individual goals.

Setting goals is all about making a plan for how you’ll achieve your overarching priorities. For each phase, set goals that ladder up to your stated focus and priorities. (See our example 30-60-90 day plan below for inspiration.) If it’s helpful, break your goals into categories like learning, performance, and personal goals.

For each goal, determine at least one metric you’ll use to track your progress. Ask yourself, “What does success look like and how will I measure it?” Not sure how to do that? Keep reading!

6 Tips for Making a 30-60-90 Day Plan

So how do you figure out your focus, priorities, goals, and metrics for a brand new role? You’ll need to gain a deeper understanding of the challenges that the company or department is trying to solve and reflect on how you can make a positive impact within the first 90 days. Here are six tips to make that easier:

1. Think Big Picture

Before you start writing out specific goals and metrics, reflect on your overall priorities. Identify why they hired (or are looking to hire) you, and set priorities that deliver on that purpose. For mid- and high-level roles, you’re likely being brought in to solve a specific problem or lead a particular project. For more junior roles, your priority can be getting up to speed on the basics of your role and how the company works.

“Start with what’s important to you and work out from there,” says Muse career coach Yolanda Owens . “What are the things you’re going to need to know in order to be successful? Use [those] as your compass.”

2. Ask Questions

Whether you’re new to a company or still in the interview stage, asking questions is crucial. In order to set realistic goals and metrics that ladder up to your high-level priorities, you’ll need a baseline understanding of the status quo. Ask things that start with, “What’s the average…” or “What’s typical for…”

You can ask your new coworkers these questions or use early-stage interviews to ask questions that could help you make a 30-60-90 day plan later on. Muse career coach Tamara Ellison suggests asking up front, “What can I tackle in the first 90 days that will allow me to hit the ground running as well as make a significant impact in the organization?”

3. Meet with Key Stakeholders

Establishing healthy working relationships is key to success in any role. If you’ve already started the job, set up meetings with the following people within the first 30 days:

In each meeting, learn about your coworkers’ roles within the company—and also get to know them as people. Ask lots of questions about the company culture, internal processes, reporting structures, team and company challenges, and other questions that come up as you’re learning the ropes. It’s important to have these conversations before you make plans to change the way things are currently run.

“Too many times, [people] come into the role and say, ‘At my last company, we did it this way,’” Ellison says. “That turns people off. You need to be a student before you become a teacher.”

4. Set SMART Goals

Once you’re clear on your high-level priorities, set specific goals that ladder up to your priorities for the 30-, 60-, and 90-day phases. These goals should be SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-Bound.

For example, instead of “Understand our SEO,” a SMART goal would be, “Within the first 30 days, identify our top 10 target keywords and assess how we’re currently ranking for them.”

5. Determine How You’ll Measure Success

This will likely be different for each of your goals. Metrics are often quantifiable (revenue, page views, etc.), but some goals might have more qualitative metrics, like positive customer feedback. However, try to make even qualitative metrics measurable—for instance, the number of five-star reviews you receive.

6. Be Flexible

Don’t worry if you don’t end up following the plan precisely. Every job is different, so tailor your plan based on what you know about the role and organization, but accept that it will likely change. Ask for feedback throughout your first 90 days (and throughout your tenure at the company). If you have to course-correct as you go, that’s totally fine.

If you’re a team lead or executive, consider adding, “Conduct a SWOT analysis of my project, team, the department or the company as a whole,” to your plan during month two or three. SWOT simply stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. Once you complete this exercise it might help you to adjust the rest of your plan as well as set longer-term goals and strategies.

Also, don’t stress about the length of your written plan—it’s the quality that counts, Kaplan says. “I've gotten [90-day plans] that were two pages long and were perfect, and ones that were 40 pages long and were useless.”

30-60-90 Day Plan Example

Use our 30-60-90 day plan template to start creating your own plan. If you’re stuck on how to fill it in, this example can provide some inspiration.

Focus: Learning

Priorities: Get up to speed on my role, team, and the company as a whole. Understand the expectations my manager has for me, learn how the internal processes and procedures currently work, and start to explore some of the challenges facing the company and my role.

Priorities: Perform my role at full capacity, with a decreased need for guidance. Start to explore how I can make a unique impact within my role and the company.

Focus: Taking initiative.

Priorities: Start assuming more autonomy and finding small ways to practice leadership skills. Start to explore goals for the rest of the year.

With our 30-60-90 day template, examples, and guidelines, you’re well-equipped to land the job you’re after or tackle your first 90 days in your new role. Happy planning!

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Hit the ground running with this ultimate 30-60-90 day plan

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What is a 30-60-90 day plan?

6 benefits of a 30-60-90 day plan, when to use a 30-60-90 day plan, what to include in a 30-60-90 day plan, 30-60-90 day plan template for managers, 9 tips for creating a 30-60-90 day plan.

"The more I help out, the more successful I become. But I measure success in what it has done for the people around me. That is the real accolade." Adam Grant, organizational psychologist and BetterUp Science Board Advisor

When it comes to setting your people up for success, a little help goes a long way. How are you setting up your workforce to reach its full potential ?

Well, if you ask any leader, a lot of it comes down to helping your employees think strategically from the start. It’s beyond finishing a project, solving a problem, or completing the menial, day-to-day tasks.

Of course, the day-to-day duties help to get work done. But it’s also helping your employees connect their day-to-day to the larger purpose of work . Why does that purpose matter? How does their work connect to the organization’s goals, mission, or purpose?

When I first started at BetterUp, my manager shared a fully fleshed-out spreadsheet and Google document as part of my 30-60-90 day plan. In these resources, there were targets to hit, milestones to reach, and tasks to complete.

But more importantly than the line items was the sentiment: the strategy behind the 30-60-90 day plan helped to set me up for success. It was that extra mile to help out a new hire that allowed me to onboard successfully to my new role. And it was the help I needed to see the larger vision of how my work connected to organizational success , even if I didn’t fully know it yet.

When we think about helping others around us be successful, having a plan is critical. In fact, 69% of employees are more likely to stay with a company for three years if they had a good onboarding experience.

Having a roadmap for the first three months can help your employees acclimate to the company culture. It'll also help them ramp up to the role and meaningfully connect with others — and ultimately lead to better performance.

Sure, the plan might change. After all, we’re in a rapidly changing world where plans are often etched in pencil instead of stamped in pen. But if you’re hiring new employees or onboarding teammates, it’s important to give your workforce a sense of where you want to see them go.

In this post, we’ll walk through what makes a good 30-60-90 day plan. We’ll also talk about the benefits of a good plan — and even give a template example to help you help your employees.

Download The Connection Crisis: Why community matters in the new world of work

First, let’s understand what defines a 30-60-90 day plan. The 30-60-90 plan is a key part of a robust onboarding process . And in remote and hybrid work environments, the onboarding process is more important than ever. It’s critical that in these early days of onboarding, you’re building culture and connection with your new employees.

A 30-60-90 day plan is a document or resource that outlines the goals and strategies for a new employee within the first 90 days. It serves as a guide, a resource, and a checklist for your new hires.

When a new employee joins your organization, there’s likely a stage of information overload. In the onboarding process, the employee absorbs a lot of information. They might be networking and setting up coffee chats with other employees. They’re probably in a good chunk of training sessions and other sorts of new hire workshops.

Depending on how your organization runs the onboarding process, your employees are likely trying to ramp up in their new roles. At the same time, they're also soaking in everything they can about the organization. All while your employees are acclimating to the new role, they’re also making connections. Or, at least, they should be.

In short: it’s a lot. It can feel overwhelming to retain all the information a new hire receives. Sometimes, it can lead to confusion or misalignment on overall goals.

But with a 30-60-90 day plan, you’re able to clearly outline the expectations you have for your employee. As a manager, it’s a useful resource and tool to help keep the onboarding process on track. It can also serve as an accountability tool, one where you can ensure your employees are meeting your expectations.

Let’s talk more about what benefits come with a clearly outlined 30-60-90 day plan.

30-60-90-day-plan-woman-shaking-hands-in-wheelchair

There are plenty of benefits to a 30-60-90 day plan, for both the employer and the employee. Here are six of our favorite benefits to consider.

It helps optimize productivity

It sets clear expectations

It helps with goal setting

It can help alleviate the new job jitters

It empowers employees to self-manage their work , it serves as a reminder of priorities , it helps optimize productivity .

Ashley Ballard, social media manager, BetterUp, shared why a 30-60-90 day helped their productivity in the first three months of work.

“I'm someone who benefits from an itemized list of expectations so that I’m not hindering my productivity by feeling anxious about my work product. It also keeps everyone on the same page about the meaning behind your role and how you will directly support team goals.” Ashley Ballard, social media manager

As you’ll notice in some of these benefits of a 30-60-90 day plan, there’s a lot of overlap in what makes an employee productive. For Ashley, it’s clear expectations, alignment on the role, and clear communication about the priorities at hand. One could argue that all the benefits of a 30-60-90 day plan can contribute to overall increased productivity .

It doesn’t get much clearer than getting a document of expectations in written form. At BetterUp, our 30-60-90 day plans come with a “checkbox” field to notch once you’ve completed the task at hand.

Clear expectations can be hard to set, especially at the nebulous start of someone’s employment in a new role. But with a 30-60-90 day plan, you’re able to clearly outline your expectations as a manager.

It helps with goal setting

On my 30-60-90 day plan, I had a list of more administrative or mundane tasks. For example, I needed to upload my information into our HR management system. I needed to review the necessary policies and documents. I needed to set my email signature with the appropriate information.

But it also outlined higher-level objectives. As a marketer and writer, I needed to learn the BetterUp voice, tone, and perspective. My manager clearly outlined blogs and resources that I could read, practice assignments that I could take on, and even some videos to watch. In fact, one of my goals was to write a blog within 30 days.

Many of the new hire checklist items served as foundational tasks to get to me my goal. And by providing me with all the information at once, I could more easily connect the dots to the “why” behind some of the work I was receiving, too.

Have you ever started a new job and not really know what you’re supposed to do with yourself?

In my last job, I attended a half-day new hire orientation . I still remember going back to my desk upstairs, meeting my new manager, sitting down, and logging into my computer. I played around with my systems and got myself set up on my laptop. But after about an hour, I found myself spinning my chair around to my new boss and asking if I could help with anything.

Frankly, I had no idea what I was supposed to be doing with myself. I felt that instant anxiety of not contributing anything meaningful, even though it was just my first day.

There’s a lot of inherent pressure, stress, and anxiety that comes with starting a new job. New job anxiety is totally normal. It happens to all of us.

No matter how great we felt through the hiring process , on top of the world with our offer letter, as the new kid you can feel at loose ends pretty quickly. You waste time in self-doubt or doing unimportant tasks to look busy and loose confidence and momentum. But one way to help alleviate the jitters your employees are feeling is by giving them a plan.

Ashley Strahm, content marketing manager, BetterUp, shared why she finds having set milestones in place can help reduce anxiety .

“I’ve come to experience onboarding as a time where folks are the most hungry, curious, enthusiastic, and eager to please. Having a plan with milestones from the outset means that none of the initial emotions that come with starting a new job overwhelm or cause scattered or inefficient outreach — and anxiety about performance." Ashley Strahm, content marketing manager

Without a 30-60-90 day plan, you couldn’t possibly have made the connections or digested the right resources to help quell those productivity nerves. And without it, you risk a big loss. Those early days are when new hires have the freshest eyes. It’s the best and most optimal opportunity to ask your new hires to observe and provide feedback.

I’ve never heard of a manager that wants to hold their employees’ hands through every project. Sure, there are micromanagers who like to stay close to their employees’ work.

But at BetterUp, we’re big believers in giving employees autonomy to self-manage their work. We talk about this in the context of some of our high-impact behaviors: extreme ownership, bias toward action, craftspersonship, and work to learn.

30-60-90-day-plan-employee-at-work-smiling

Managers also need their time to focus on high-impact work and priorities. So when it comes to onboarding a new employee, it’s not plausible to walk your new hire through everything they need to know. And if you were to do so, it certainly wouldn't set them up for success.

A 30-60-90 day plan empowers your employees to self-manage their work. By leveraging a 30-60-90 day plan as part of your onboarding strategy, you’re giving your employees autonomy to build their own schedules. It helps give them the roadmap but how they get to the final destination is up to them.

Hand-in-hand with self-management comes managing priorities. We all know that work is busy. As your employees become more acclimated to the role, it’s likely their workload is gradually increasing.

But with a 30-60-90 day plan, your employees are reminded of their priorities. And it’s on your employees to manage their priorities effectively, which is a good life and work muscle to flex.

So, you might be wondering when to use a 30-60-90 day plan. When is it most effective? What situations will it have the most impact? Let’s dig in.

30-60-90 day plan for an interview

Job seekers, this is for you. If you want to knock the socks off a potential employer, consider putting together a 30-60-90 day plan for your interview. Even if it’s just an informational interview , you can show how you’d approach your first 90 days on the job.

For example, let’s say you’re interviewing for a sales position. From the job description and from your informational interview, you know what markets you’ll be focused on. You also know about some target accounts and have a good sense of the industry.

While you might not know exactly what you are going to be doing, you have a good idea. You’ve worked in software sales for a while, enough to know how to approach breaking into a new market.

So, you decide to come up with a proposed 30-60-90 day plan. You put together a rough sketch in a Google sheet about what you would focus on in your new role .

30-60-90 day plan for a new job

More commonly, 30-60-90 day plans are used in the onboarding process. This is useful for both hiring managers and employees. For example, at BetterUp, I received my 30-60-90 day plan on my first day of employment. It helped to set expectations about what I would be focused on for the next three months.

But some companies also use 30-60-90 day plans for things like performance reviews or even lateral moves within the organization. You can also use 30-60-90 day plans for project-based initiatives.

First, it’s important to understand that 30-60-90 day plans should be personalized based on the employee. For example, a new employee in an entry-level position will probably have a radically different plan than that of a new executive.

And 30-60-90 day plans for managers are going to look different than plans for individual contributors. There are nuances to these sorts of plans because of job responsibilities, work goals , expectations, and experience.

But generally speaking, we can outline four key components of a 30-60-90 day plan.

Expectations and concrete goals

Go-to resources and information .

Every 30-60-90 day plan should have clear expectations and concrete goals. As a manager, it’s important to clearly communicate the expectations you have for your employees. For example, my manager has created a couple of documents that very clearly outline the expectations of her employees.

Oftentimes, expectations serve as the foundation for your working relationships. As part of my 30-60-90 day plan, my manager also asked about my expectations. In a lot of ways, it’s a two-way street.

I filled out a document that outlined my preferred working style, my communication style, and how I resolve conflict . It helped both parties to essentially get a good sense of how the other works.

Along the same vein of expectations are goals. My manager expressed some clear goals that she wanted me to reach within my first 90 days. But I also had the opportunity to think about my own personal goals and what I wanted to accomplish.

Together, we iterated on the plan to come up with an action plan. Some of these goals can ladder up to other big milestones that you’d like to have your employees reach along the way.

30-60-90-day-plan-woman-shaking-hands-with-man

The world of work is a complex one. Especially in today’s day and age, there’s a lot of information that’s probably changing rapidly.

For example, is your workforce hybrid or remote? What sort of COVID-19 guidelines are in place? How do you submit your expense reports or ask for time off? What systems does your organization use for benefits ? What employee resource groups or culture programs does your organization have?

A 30-60-90 day plan is a good one-stop-shop for all the resources your new hire will need. It’s a great reference and resources with a wealth of information (and can help your employee become more self-sufficient, too).

New hire checklist or to-do list

When an employee joins a company, there are a lot of “tasks” that need to be done. For example, I needed to enroll in my benefits and 401K. I needed to upload my personal contact information into our human resources management system. I needed to upload my Slack photo and put my preferred pronouns on my email signature and Slack profile.

A 30-60-90 day plan is a great place for all of the one-off tasks that every new hire needs to complete. It also helps keep your employees on track with all the administrative and HR tasks needed within the first couple of months of employment.

Company mission, culture, and purpose of work

Last but certainly not least, your employees need to understand the purpose of work. This likely won’t “click” fully in the first 30 (or even 90) days. But it’s important to start drawing connections between their work and the company’s vision early on.

In a recent Forbes article, Great Place to Work® released new data around employee retention . One of the top drivers? Purpose. In fact, employees at top-rated workplaces in the US reported that if they feel their work has a purpose , their intent to stay at said companies triples.

Don’t dismiss the role that purpose plays in your organization. At BetterUp, we’re on a mission to help everyone everywhere live with greater purpose, clarity, and passion . This can only happen if employees understand their purpose and the role of their work in the company’s mission.

We’ve created a free draft 30-60-90 day plan template to use for managers. Access the draft template and start using it today.

30-60-90 day plan for interviews

As mentioned earlier, there are some situations where an employee may prepare a 30-60-90 day plan as part of an interview. Or, perhaps as part of your company’s hiring process, you ask job applicants to put together their plans.

With these elements, you’ll be sure the candidate is ready to hit the ground running. Here are some key components you should look for in a job applicant’s 30-60-90 day plan:

Of course, your 30-60-90 day play is going to be catered to each individual. We’re all human with different responsibilities needed. Keep these nine tips in mind as you put together your 30-60-90 day plans.

You can always work with a coach to help outline what might be needed in your 30-60-90 day plan. A coach will have a wealth of experience in the field and an objective, third-party perspective. With guidance from BetterUp, you can ensure you’re setting up your people for success.

Madeline Miles

Madeline is a writer, communicator, and storyteller who is passionate about using words to help drive positive change. She holds a bachelor's in English Creative Writing and Communication Studies and lives in Denver, Colorado. In her spare time, she's usually somewhere outside (preferably in the mountains) — and enjoys poetry and fiction.

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What is a 30-60-90 day business plan and how do I create one?

First time creating a 30-60-90 day business plan? Not to worry! While it's fairly common in many fields, it's underused in others.

First time creating a 30-60-90 day business plan? Not to worry! While it's fairly common in many fields, it's underused in others. Here's what you need to know about these plans and how to create your own.

What is a 30-60-90 day plan?

A 30-60-90 day plan is a goal-oriented way to structure your time for the next three months. Though you could make a 30-60-90 day plan for learning anything, this strategy is most often used in business, generally when you're trying to get hired, were just hired, or have recently been promoted.

30-60-90 day plans help you start in a new position with a plan of action and a sense of purpose beyond learning the ropes of your new role. It also gives you measurable milestones that your superiors can use to track your progress.

What's the goal of a 30-60-90 day plan?

As mentioned, 30-60-90 day plans are usually implemented at the beginning of a new job, during a job interview, or shortly after a promotion. They serve several purposes, which we'll get into now.

Identify your goals

First and foremost, 30-60-90 day plans help you identify your goals for a job position. Let's exclude everyone else at your place of work for a moment and focus on you. Outside of making money, there are probably a few things you want out of a job: to improve, to climb up the ranks, to build a solid reputation, and to increase your value.

To manage all of these different things, you need goals. And not goals like "become a millionaire." It helps to have grounded, actionable goals that you can work toward. We're not saying you can't become a millionaire, but that you need a step 1, step 2, etc. If you don't know these steps, then you're just relying on luck, which isn't recommended.

Creating a 30-60-90 day plan helps you write down your goals for your job over the next three months in a strategic and focused manner, which is essential to making progress and achieving success.

Get your team on the same page

Now that we've covered that, we can start to zoom out a little and look at the rest of your coworkers. If you work on a team (or manage a team) a 30-60-90 day plan is a great way to make sure that everyone is on the same page.

Too often, teams are either smothered by micromanagement or given so much freedom that "team" is a generous title. A clear 30-60-90 day plan helps everyone understand their role in the team and their goals perfectly without you (or your team manager) constantly reminding people of what they're supposed to be working on.

Measure your progress

Lastly, using a 30-60-90 day plan gives you a metric for measuring your progress. If you plan to accomplish something within the next 30 days, you can easily check to see if you've completed that goal in 30 days; it's a binary answer. You can also see how close you've gotten to completing that goal and estimate how much longer you need to finish it.

This is helpful for employees and managers alike, as managers can see how their employees are performing based on an agreed-upon 30-60-90 day plan. For employees, this gives you proof of your efforts, which increases your value. And for managers, this gives you clarity into what your employees are accomplishing.

When you shouldn’t use a 30-60-90 day plan

Now that we've covered all of the great things about 30-60-90 day plans, let's talk about some of the things that make them not so great, specifically, when you shouldn't use them.

You should not use a 30-60-90 day plan if you're applying for a job that you know nothing about. If you're new to your industry and haven't been asked to create a 30-60-90 day plan, skip it. Otherwise, it will probably come across as arrogant and likely won't be accurate anyway. Instead of coming in with a plan, come in with an open mind and an eagerness to learn. This is what hiring managers look for when hiring someone with little experience.

You also shouldn't use a 30-60-90 day plan if the job you're applying for has an extremely clear, predefined role for you to fill. For example, if you're going to be screwing the caps on toothpaste tubes or answering customer service calls, a 30-60-90 day plan won't be relevant to the type of work you're doing.

30-60-90 day plans work best when you have a few years of experience in your industry (at least), already work within the company you're writing it for, or you've been specifically tasked with creating one.

30-60-90 day business plan template

Your 30-60-90 day business plan will look a little different depending on what you're using it for, but there are a few things that should apply across the board. Below is a simple template you can use to help you quickly create your own 30-60-90 day business plan.

The first 30 days: Be a learner

The first 30 days of a 30-60-90 day business plan should be your learning cycle. This is where you'll learn what the company is all about, who performs which jobs, how your role fits into the grand scheme of things, and your daily activities.

If you're seeking a promotion, creating this part of the plan should be fairly straightforward. But for new hires, it can be tricky, as you won't know how to write this down in a way that's specific to this company.

To overcome this challenge, don't be afraid to ask your hiring manager questions, talk to others who work at the company, and scour any information you can find online. Use the information you find to tailor your learning goals to this company's values and functions.

The first 60 days: Be a worker

The first sixty days of a 30-60-90 day business plan (or the second month) is when you'll start to have your feet under you. This means you can start working on more serious goals that advance the company; it's when you start preparing to make real change using the knowledge you've acquired during the first 30 days.

Your goals during this segment will be to start seeking feedback and criticism from superiors, trying to hone what you've already learned. You'll also want to start setting weekly goals for yourself, like landing a new sale, speaking with a lead, taking on a new client, debugging software, etc.

The first 90 days: Be a leade r

The first 90 days of your 30-60-90 day business plan (or the third and final month) is when you should have found confidence in your role at this company. You'll understand how the company runs, what each person does, what you do, and how all of these things affect one another.

Knowing this will allow you to be proactive and to make real changes that can benefit you, your coworkers, and the company. This is the part of your 30-60-90 day business plan where you'll suggest potential projects that you can lead, performing tasks (within reason) that go beyond your role's requirements, and communicating with coworkers to start making real progress.

Mistakes to avoid when making a 30-60-90 day business plan

1. Don't be vague about your goals

This is one of the easiest mistakes to make, especially when you look at lots of different templates before you start writing your own 30-60-90 day plan. You don't much about the company or what you'll be doing there, so you say things like "I'll learn a lot and then start a project of my own."

Of course, this isn't a bad goal, but it doesn't tell your hiring manager anything that any other applicant couldn't have said themselves. The same goes for those seeking a promotion.

Being vague in this way tends to make your 30-60-90 day plan somewhat pointless. It's not really a plan, more so a collection of feel-good answers you think a manager wants to hear. To avoid this mistake, make sure that you choose grounded, measurable, clear goals, like "Make [x] sales," or "Implement [y] feature."

2. Don't create a one-size-fits-all business plan

You can easily tell if you've made this mistake by changing the name of the business in your 30-60-90 day plan to another business's name. If everything still makes perfect sense, then you've probably erred too close to being generic.

Fortunately, this is an easy fix! Just take the goals you've already created and tweak them in small ways that show you've paid attention to this company's values, workflow, customers, and goals. For example, you can tweak the goals above as such: "I will land [x] clients that can improve ABC Company's performance in [y] market," or "I will improve ABC Company's ad copy to showcase [xyz] strengths."

3. Don't use your plan as a crutch

Last but not least, don't use your 30-60-90 day plan as a crutch during an interview or promotion discussion. What that means is, don't let it be the most impressive part of your interview. It's only a small part of what will make you a desirable candidate.

There are other factors that most managers will see as equally or more important, like your adaptability, willingness to learn, experience, and so on. Your 30-60-90 day plan should showcase that you're a thoughtful and motivated candidate, not that you know everything about this job and that you will "shake this company up." Be humble, present your plan, and sell yourself, not your goals.

Start improving your job success today

A 30-60-90 day business plan is a great way to improve your chances of landing a job or a promotion and improve your job performance in general. If you found this article helpful, check out the rest of our Resource Center for more helpful tips from B12 !

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Identify the A players on the team.

Create goals based on what you've learned.

Diagnose process issues.

Put together and implement a hiring plan.

Effect changes in operations.

Contribute to broader company goals.

Understand your team's goals.

Identify top priorities.

Define specific progress measurements.

30-60-90 Day Plan Template

30-60-90 Day Plan Example

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What Makes a Good 30-60-90 Day Plan?

1. Write the company mission

2. Create the first 30 days’ objectives

3. Create the next 60- and 90-day objectives

4. Provide ample resources for the employee

5. Evaluate progress

Bottom Line

How do I answer what I will do in the first 30-60-90 days?

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