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Item Upon - DIY-Strategic Planning
One of the events that occurs in business is the departure of a key executive. This has the potential to be very disruptive and can have a significant emotional impact on employees. So how do you deal with these feelings? Your strategic thinking business coach has some tips on how to deal with the departure of a key executive.+ Develop a positive message to deliver to all employees about the departing key executive. Discuss the development of the message with the departing executive, if appropriate.+ Select the various methods of delivering your message to all employees. This may include face-to-face meetings, company-wide email message, memo to all employees, etc.+ Schedule meetings with employees and distribute the developed communication as soon as you can to minimize the time for rumors and gossip to start and grow.+ Express your hope and best wishes for future success for the departing key executive.+ Use the opportunity of the departure to reinforce your belief in the company and the value of its staff.+ Develop a plan, as appropriate, to cover the responsibilities of the departed executive and communicate the plan to employees.+ Reiterate your faith in the company and employees at the end of all your communications in this matter.If you would like to learn more about strategic business decisions and some challenging follow-up actions, like the departure of a key executive, and how a strategic thinking business coach can facilitate and guide you in that endeavor, please contact Glenn Ebersole today through his website at www.businesscoach4u.com or by email at jgecoach@aol.comStrategic Business Tips On How To Deal With The Departure of Key Executive By: J. Glenn Ebersole, Jr., Chief Executive of J. G. Ebersole Associates and The Renaissance Group
Step Nine --- Developing the presentation for approval
The strategy team will provide the strategy document to ownership at least one week in advance of the formal presentation. Representatives of the strategy team will present the plan and defend it from a considered corporate challenge. The purpose of the challenge is to ensure that the plan is well thought out and based on a realistic assessment of the company’s risks and constraints. The presentation will also demonstrate the degree of commitment and ownership by the team. The objective of the meeting is to formally endorse the strategy for the company. If necessary, the team will revise and re-present the plan to obtain ownership approval.
Step Ten ---- The Roll Out Process
After formal acceptance, the President and two to three strategy team members should schedule meetings to introduce the strategy to the entire management team and all other employees, thus formally launching the strategy. This should be a big deal and should be completed as quickly as possible. In person presentations by executive management and strategy team members is highly recommended.
Strategy Development Overview
Strategic planning is a management tool. It is used to help an organization clarify its future direction – to focus its energy, and to help members of the organization work toward the same goals. The planning process adjusts the organization’s direction in response to a changing environment. Strategic planning is a disciplined effort to support fundamental decisions and actions that shape and guide what an organization is, what it does and why it does it, with a focus on where it wants to go and how it is going to get there.
Discipline is a prerequisite to this process because it requires laser like persistence to result in a productive strategic planning initiative. The process raises a sequence of questions that helps planners examine current reality, test assumptions, gather and incorporate information about the present and perform trend analysis on the future industry environment. The prioritization of initiatives and SIPs is an essential step. Although your strategic plan will cover a five to seven year period prioritized SIPs are worked on during the first twelve to eighteen month period based on bandwidth and resources while other CCIs and SIPs are deferred. It is much more effective to completely finish three or four SIPs pertaining to one or two CCI’s than to work on ten or twelve SIPs and accomplish nothing.
Fundamental decisions, actions and choices must be made in order to develop a plan that provides the roadmap to the future. The plan is ultimately no more, and no less, than a set of decisions about what to do, why to do it, when and how to do it. CEO Strategist is in the pro
If you're the boss, you have to give directions. It's part of the job.Do the job well and you only have to do it once. Do the job poorly and you have to do it again. You might even have to fix things that have been done wrong. Here are three rules and twelve tips for giving good instructions.First, here's a quick list of the three rules.Rule 1: Give instructions in the ways that work best for your subordinate Rule 2: Give your directions in more than one way Rule 3: Check for understandingNow let's review the rules in detail.Rule 1: Give instructions in the ways that work best for your subordinate. Different people process information in different ways. To be most effective, you need to master different ways of presenting instructions so you can choose and use the best way for each subordinate.Psychologists tell us that there are three basic information processing modes. Visual processors think in pictures, while auditory ones think in sound and dialogue. Kinesthetic processors need motion and gesture to understand. Frame your instructions in language that matches your subordinate's preferred mode.Use the language that your subordinate likes. Note the phrases they use to indicate things they approve of such as "That sounds good" or "It feels right" or "It makes sense." If you use familiar terms when giving instructions, your subordinates are more likely to get the message.Some people prefer you to start with concrete examples and then move to a general principle. Others prefer you to start with the general principle and then provide examples.If you are familiar with the people who work for you, you should learn about what's important to them and how they communicate. Use sports examples for sports lovers and cooking or gardening examples for peopl
Defining objectives and developing initiatives and action plans to meet those objectives is the basis of strategic planning. However, it all starts with an end game, a “Vision for the Future.”
Strategic planning is a management tool. It is used to help an organization clarify its future direction – to focus its energy, and to help members of the organization work toward the same goals. The planning process adjusts the organization’s direction in response to a changing environment. Strategic planning is a disciplined effort to support fundamental decisions and actions that shape and guide what an organization is, what it does and why it does it, with a focus on where it wants to go and how it is going to get there.
Fundamental decisions, actions and choices must be made in order to develop a plan that provides a Roadmap on “How to get there from Here.”.” The plan is ultimately no more, and no less, than a set of decisions about what to do, why to do it, and when and how to do it.
The scope of the strategy development process for any company is dependent upon individual business needs. The strategic planning process is a time and resource-consuming endeavor that involves many people in the organization. This process includes both tactical and strategic application. The DIY process assumes that you have a good handle on both your internal and external environment. If you don’t you may want to consider hiring a consultant to do an internal assessment and survey your customers and vendors to analyze your external environment.
Hiring a consulting firm can cost as little as $10,000 for a simple two day facilitation to upwards of $100,000 for comprehensive involvement by the consulting firm during the entire process.
So, if you are not inclined to hire an outside consultant, you may want to follow this ten step process for DIY (Do It Yourself) Strategic Planning. Although it isn’t possible to describe in great detail the entire process in an article (it would require 50 pages) the following is an overview of the process.
The Ten Step Process
Let’s identify the steps first and then we’ll discuss each one in a little more detail . I cannot emphasize enough that the true value of a strategic plan is not in the document itself. It is in the process of creating it, involving many of your employees from the bottom up. This empowers them to be more effective and better-informed leaders, managers and decision makers.
1. Select the strategy team and send a company wide communication
2. Create a Vision for the Future (End Game)
3. Preparation -----Secure an off site location for the kick off meeting which includes training the team on the strategic planning process. Purchase a strategic planning template, download one from the web or e-mail rick@ceostrategist.com for a generic sample.
4. Complete a SWOT analysis. (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Threats)
5. Identify the critical core initiatives that are necessary to support the vision for the future and to achieve its objectives
6. Develop strategic implementation plans (SIPs) that support the identified critical core initiatives
7. Prioritize the CCI’s and SIP’s based on the biggest impact on the bottom line in the shortest period of time. Modify and complete the document template to fit your company strategy
8. Develop an accountability process based on a structured monthly strategic review
9. Develop a presentation of the strategy for approval by the CEO, owners or Board of Directors.
10. Develop a Roll Out Strategy to explain the strategic plan to the entire company
Step One --------- Selection and Communication
It all starts with communication. The very first piece of information should be the announcement to all employees that the company is embarking on a planning process for the future. This memo should be sent from the President asking for everyone’s support. (A sample memo is available from rick@ceostrategist.com) The memo will likely announce who the strategy team members are and ask for everyone to congratulate them and provide input at every opportunity. CAUTION: Make sure that you have talked to any employee in advance that was not picked for the strategy team that may feel that they should have been.
Once the team is announced and the process starts make sure you continue to keep employees aware of the progress and solicit their input. A minimum of a monthly memo should be issued. The strategic planning process can take from 6 weeks to 12 weeks so it is important to keep everyone informed without releasing too much detail.
The strategy team should include a senior accountant, and should consist of between seven and ten members. Team selection should be based on competence, integrity, work ethic, leadership skills, and future growth potential within the Company. The team will formulate and present the strategic document to the President/CEO and the Board of Directors. It is critical that all employees are empowered and encouraged to communicate their ideas and issues with any member of the strategy team. This process ensures accountability and ownership of the strategy at every level in the organization.
Step Two --- A Vision for the Future (The End Game)
The Vision for the Future (End Game) in business is simply defining what winning the game in your business is really about. What does winning mean. Just exactly what do you want your company to be when it grows up? Ask yourself the following questions from the perspective of looking five to seven years into the future.
1. What markets should your company be serving five years from now?
2. What products should you be distributing?
3. Who are your primary competitors?
4. What are your strengths?
5. What are your competitors’ strengths?
6. How has your marketing strategy changed?
7. What are your core competencies?
8. What is the size of your revenue stream?
9. How is your revenue stream segmented?
10. Do you have a Human Resource Development plan?
The CEO/Owners should create the “Vision for the Future” (End Game) for presentation to the strategy team.
Step Three --- Preparation
Running a strategic planning process is not just designing a template and having the team members fill in the gaps. On the contrary, it means carefully coaching the management team through a thinking process. Often, the actual strategic plan is even less important than the development and growth of the team members participating in the process. The strategy team should be trained on the process you intend to follow in developing the strategic plan. Once that is competed the CEO/President should present the vision of the future with copies for everyone and then excuse himself from the meeting to allow the strategy team to tear the end game apart and put it back together. The President will have explained that they have the right and the obligation to challenge the end game if they do not agree with any part of it. However, any challenge to any portion must be accompanied by alternative recommendations. The concept is to finalize a “Vision for the Future” that everyone owns.
Step Four---- The SWOT analysis
The team will conduct a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis to identify critical constraints and potential opportunities for growth.
Step Five --- Developing the Critical Core Initiatives from the Vision for the Future
Critical core initiatives are over arching initiatives that are found within the Vision for the Future. An example may be defined as a human resource initiative for becoming employer of choice. There are many independent action steps (Strategic Implementation Plans – SIPs) that will be required to accomplish the Critical Core Initiative (CCI). They may include training, education, leadership development, compensation and benefits etc.
Identifying the CCI’s first is necessary to move on to the next step which is creating SIPs for each CCI.
Step Six--- Prioritize the CCI’s and identify individual SIPs for each CCI
A Strategic Implementation Plan (SIP) is a set of tasks that supports a Critical Core Initiative and therefore creates fundamental change in the way you do things. SIP work deals with long-term improvement and change, balancing concern for today with concern for the future and is a fundamental task of managerial decision-making. Work against SIPs deals with improving things for tomorrow.
Each Critical Core Initiative is supported by a set of SIPs that contain a sequenced set of tasks, schedules, and named responsible individuals. The creation of SIPs indicates that the chosen area is one that provides a high payoff in terms of innovation and managed change.
Step Seven --- Assign sections of the strategy template to be completed by different team members
Developing the strategy document from team homework assignments completed over the previous weeks is a matter of following the template that has been modified to meet your specific company needs.
Step Eight --- The accountability process
The key managerial tool to ensure steady, consistent progress on SIP tasks is the formal Operational Review Meeting (ORM). This is the foundation to insure that the strategic plan is successful. The ORM is held monthly. The purpose of the ORM is to:
• Clearly understand the status of your key initiatives.
• Keep executive focus on strategic, rather than just urgent, issues.
• Facilitate communication and support throughout the executive team and the company.
• Formulate emergency responses to company-wide threats or opportunities.
• Leverage all appropriate company resources while maintaining proper accountability for performance.
The ORM should be attended by members of the Strategy Team, executive management and other senior managers. It will follow a formal agenda and discussions will be driven by two objective measurements: performance of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and progress of SIP task completion. SIP and action item owners will be held accountable for achieving the desired results by the due date indicated on the plan. The entire team will be held accountable for meeting SIP goals.
Step Nine --- Developing the presentation for approval
The strategy team will provide the strategy document to ownership at least one week in advance of the formal presentation. Representatives of the strategy team will present the plan and defend it from a considered corporate challenge. The purpose of the challenge is to ensure that the plan is well thought out and based on a realistic assessment of the company’s risks and constraints. The presentation will also demonstrate the degree of commitment and ownership by the team. The objective of the meeting is to formally endorse the strategy for the company. If necessary, the team will revise and re-present the plan to obtain ownership approval.
Step Ten ---- The Roll Out Process
After formal acceptance, the President and two to three strategy team members should schedule meetings to introduce the strategy to the entire management team and all other employees, thus formally launching the strategy. This should be a big deal and should be completed as quickly as possible. In person presentations by executive management and strategy team members is highly recommended.
Strategy Development Overview
Strategic planning is a management tool. It is used to help an organization clarify its future direction – to focus its energy, and to help members of the organization work toward the same goals. The planning process adjusts the organization’s direction in response to a changing environment. Strategic planning is a disciplined effort to support fundamental decisions and actions that shape and guide what an organization is, what it does and why it does it, with a focus on where it wants to go and how it is going to get there.
Discipline is a prerequisite to this process because it requires laser like persistence to result in a productive strategic planning initiative. The process raises a sequence of questions that helps planners examine current reality, test assumptions, gather and incorporate information about the present and perform trend analysis on the future industry environment. The prioritization of initiatives and SIPs is an essential step. Although your strategic plan will cover a five to seven year period prioritized SIPs are worked on during the first twelve to eighteen month period based on bandwidth and resources while other CCIs and SIPs are deferred. It is much more effective to completely finish three or four SIPs pertaining to one or two CCI’s than to work on ten or twelve SIPs and accomplish nothing.
Fundamental decisions, actions and choices must be made in order to develop a plan that provides the roadmap to the future. The plan is ultimately no more, and no less, than a set of decisions about what to do, why to do it, when and how to do it. CEO Strategist is in the pro
Powerful questions to get below the surface1. Ask for specific "stories" of complete situations"We all meet situations where people disagree on the correct way to proceed. Can you give me an instance from your own experience where it was up to you to deal with this kind of disagreement? Perhaps a time when you had to lead a team to find an answer everyone could rally behind?"2. Build on answers with specific questions on "how?" and "why?"a) "What exactly convinced you to chose this career path?"b) When the candidate has answered:"Exactly why were you convinced?" c) Finally: "Why has this proved to be the right path?"If you must ask multiple questions, make sure each part builds extends the previous one in a single direction. It's better to stick to simple questions if you can. In interviewing, less is more.3. Stick with actual happeningsGeneral, non-specific answers let people talk about what they wished they had done, not what actually happened.a) "Please tell me about a specific situation where you were able to show your ability to cope with a tough deadline. How did you handle it?"b) "What did it teach you?"Abstractions are easy to handle...and fake. Talk is cheap. Stick to verifiable actions, not intentions.4. Put an unexpected "spin" on a questiona) "Has it become easier or harder to plan a marketing campaign over the time you've been doing that kind of work?"b) "Why is this?"Look for evidence of how the person reasons and learns from experience. How long he or she has worked in a specific field can be learned from their file. What matters is what those years have taught them. That's what they'll carry into t
The Ten Step Process
Let’s identify the steps first and then we’ll discuss each one in a little more detail . I cannot emphasize enough that the true value of a strategic plan is not in the document itself. It is in the process of creating it, involving many of your employees from the bottom up. This empowers them to be more effective and better-informed leaders, managers and decision makers.
1. Select the strategy team and send a company wide communication
2. Create a Vision for the Future (End Game)
3. Preparation -----Secure an off site location for the kick off meeting which includes training the team on the strategic planning process. Purchase a strategic planning template, download one from the web or e-mail rick@ceostrategist.com for a generic sample.
4. Complete a SWOT analysis. (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Threats)
5. Identify the critical core initiatives that are necessary to support the vision for the future and to achieve its objectives
6. Develop strategic implementation plans (SIPs) that support the identified critical core initiatives
7. Prioritize the CCI’s and SIP’s based on the biggest impact on the bottom line in the shortest period of time. Modify and complete the document template to fit your company strategy
8. Develop an accountability process based on a structured monthly strategic review
9. Develop a presentation of the strategy for approval by the CEO, owners or Board of Directors.
10. Develop a Roll Out Strategy to explain the strategic plan to the entire company
Step One --------- Selection and Communication
It all starts with communication. The very first piece of information should be the announcement to all employees that the company is embarking on a planning process for the future. This memo should be sent from the President asking for everyone’s support. (A sample memo is available from rick@ceostrategist.com) The memo will likely announce who the strategy team members are and ask for everyone to congratulate them and provide input at every opportunity. CAUTION: Make sure that you have talked to any employee in advance that was not picked for the strategy team that may feel that they should have been.
Once the team is announced and the process starts make sure you continue to keep employees aware of the progress and solicit their input. A minimum of a monthly memo should be issued. The strategic planning process can take from 6 weeks to 12 weeks so it is important to keep everyone informed without releasing too much detail.
The strategy team should include a senior accountant, and should consist of between seven and ten members. Team selection should be based on competence, integrity, work ethic, leadership skills, and future growth potential within the Company. The team will formulate and present the strategic document to the President/CEO and the Board of Directors. It is critical that all employees are empowered and encouraged to communicate their ideas and issues with any member of the strategy team. This process ensures accountability and ownership of the strategy at every level in the organization.
Step Two --- A Vision for the Future (The End Game)
The Vision for the Future (End Game) in business is simply defining what winning the game in your business is really about. What does winning mean. Just exactly what do you want your company to be when it grows up? Ask yourself the following questions from the perspective of looking five to seven years into the future.
1. What markets should your company be serving five years from now?
2. What products should you be distributing?
3. Who are your primary competitors?
4. What are your strengths?
5. What are your competitors’ strengths?
6. How has your marketing strategy changed?
7. What are your core competencies?
8. What is the size of your revenue stream?
9. How is your revenue stream segmented?
10. Do you have a Human Resource Development plan?
The CEO/Owners should create the “Vision for the Future” (End Game) for presentation to the strategy team.
Step Three --- Preparation
Running a strategic planning process is not just designing a template and having the team members fill in the gaps. On the contrary, it means carefully coaching the management team through a thinking process. Often, the actual strategic plan is even less important than the development and growth of the team members participating in the process. The strategy team should be trained on the process you intend to follow in developing the strategic plan. Once that is competed the CEO/President should present the vision of the future with copies for everyone and then excuse himself from the meeting to allow the strategy team to tear the end game apart and put it back together. The President will have explained that they have the right and the obligation to challenge the end game if they do not agree with any part of it. However, any challenge to any portion must be accompanied by alternative recommendations. The concept is to finalize a “Vision for the Future” that everyone owns.
Step Four---- The SWOT analysis
The team will conduct a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis to identify critical constraints and potential opportunities for growth.
Step Five --- Developing the Critical Core Initiatives from the Vision for the Future
Critical core initiatives are over arching initiatives that are found within the Vision for the Future. An example may be defined as a human resource initiative for becoming employer of choice. There are many independent action steps (Strategic Implementation Plans – SIPs) that will be required to accomplish the Critical Core Initiative (CCI). They may include training, education, leadership development, compensation and benefits etc.
Identifying the CCI’s first is necessary to move on to the next step which is creating SIPs for each CCI.
Step Six--- Prioritize the CCI’s and identify individual SIPs for each CCI
A Strategic Implementation Plan (SIP) is a set of tasks that supports a Critical Core Initiative and therefore creates fundamental change in the way you do things. SIP work deals with long-term improvement and change, balancing concern for today with concern for the future and is a fundamental task of managerial decision-making. Work against SIPs deals with improving things for tomorrow.
Each Critical Core Initiative is supported by a set of SIPs that contain a sequenced set of tasks, schedules, and named responsible individuals. The creation of SIPs indicates that the chosen area is one that provides a high payoff in terms of innovation and managed change.
Step Seven --- Assign sections of the strategy template to be completed by different team members
Developing the strategy document from team homework assignments completed over the previous weeks is a matter of following the template that has been modified to meet your specific company needs.
Step Eight --- The accountability process
The key managerial tool to ensure steady, consistent progress on SIP tasks is the formal Operational Review Meeting (ORM). This is the foundation to insure that the strategic plan is successful. The ORM is held monthly. The purpose of the ORM is to:
• Clearly understand the status of your key initiatives.
• Keep executive focus on strategic, rather than just urgent, issues.
• Facilitate communication and support throughout the executive team and the company.
• Formulate emergency responses to company-wide threats or opportunities.
• Leverage all appropriate company resources while maintaining proper accountability for performance.
The ORM should be attended by members of the Strategy Team, executive management and other senior managers. It will follow a formal agenda and discussions will be driven by two objective measurements: performance of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and progress of SIP task completion. SIP and action item owners will be held accountable for achieving the desired results by the due date indicated on the plan. The entire team will be held accountable for meeting SIP goals.
Step Nine --- Developing the presentation for approval
The strategy team will provide the strategy document to ownership at least one week in advance of the formal presentation. Representatives of the strategy team will present the plan and defend it from a considered corporate challenge. The purpose of the challenge is to ensure that the plan is well thought out and based on a realistic assessment of the company’s risks and constraints. The presentation will also demonstrate the degree of commitment and ownership by the team. The objective of the meeting is to formally endorse the strategy for the company. If necessary, the team will revise and re-present the plan to obtain ownership approval.
Step Ten ---- The Roll Out Process
After formal acceptance, the President and two to three strategy team members should schedule meetings to introduce the strategy to the entire management team and all other employees, thus formally launching the strategy. This should be a big deal and should be completed as quickly as possible. In person presentations by executive management and strategy team members is highly recommended.
Strategy Development Overview
Strategic planning is a management tool. It is used to help an organization clarify its future direction – to focus its energy, and to help members of the organization work toward the same goals. The planning process adjusts the organization’s direction in response to a changing environment. Strategic planning is a disciplined effort to support fundamental decisions and actions that shape and guide what an organization is, what it does and why it does it, with a focus on where it wants to go and how it is going to get there.
Discipline is a prerequisite to this process because it requires laser like persistence to result in a productive strategic planning initiative. The process raises a sequence of questions that helps planners examine current reality, test assumptions, gather and incorporate information about the present and perform trend analysis on the future industry environment. The prioritization of initiatives and SIPs is an essential step. Although your strategic plan will cover a five to seven year period prioritized SIPs are worked on during the first twelve to eighteen month period based on bandwidth and resources while other CCIs and SIPs are deferred. It is much more effective to completely finish three or four SIPs pertaining to one or two CCI’s than to work on ten or twelve SIPs and accomplish nothing.
Fundamental decisions, actions and choices must be made in order to develop a plan that provides the roadmap to the future. The plan is ultimately no more, and no less, than a set of decisions about what to do, why to do it, when and how to do it. CEO Strategist is in the pro
With internet taking over the whole business transactions, the focus of advertising re-shifts to the power of words. Local classifieds used to have a stigma as being read by only people in the lower income strata. The runaway success of real estate classifieds in real estate magazines, auto classifieds in auto classifieds section of newspapers and auto magazines prove this stigma categorically wrong.With classifieds ads, advertisers can use the power of words to sell the products they have. Selling products without the burden of producing high profile ad campaigns that cost thousands of dollars, local classifieds offer the best option to sell your products.Local classifieds, state wide classifieds and nationwide classifieds and now with world local classifieds, it is easier to reach the potential buyers through local classified ads. One significantly important advantage of classifieds ads is that only people who are really interested in buying a product or service will be looking for classifieds ads of that product/service category.You are not paying anything to vainly attract the attention of uninterested parties. Instead with local classifieds ads, you make sure all your efforts are directed to people who are actually interested in your product – it can be real estate, automobile, antiques, hobby collection, etc.Businesses have real money to be made from local classifieds ads. Placing geo-targeted local classifieds ads attract people in that area to click to your free classified ad. Chances are higher that every phone call you receive converts to sales. No other kind of advertising has that high closing rate as online paid or free classified ads.Concentrate on delivering your message accurately and straight. Your readers will find you have something to sell that the readers (potential custo
Step Two --- A Vision for the Future (The End Game)
The Vision for the Future (End Game) in business is simply defining what winning the game in your business is really about. What does winning mean. Just exactly what do you want your company to be when it grows up? Ask yourself the following questions from the perspective of looking five to seven years into the future.
1. What markets should your company be serving five years from now?
2. What products should you be distributing?
3. Who are your primary competitors?
4. What are your strengths?
5. What are your competitors’ strengths?
6. How has your marketing strategy changed?
7. What are your core competencies?
8. What is the size of your revenue stream?
9. How is your revenue stream segmented?
10. Do you have a Human Resource Development plan?
The CEO/Owners should create the “Vision for the Future” (End Game) for presentation to the strategy team.
Step Three --- Preparation
Running a strategic planning process is not just designing a template and having the team members fill in the gaps. On the contrary, it means carefully coaching the management team through a thinking process. Often, the actual strategic plan is even less important than the development and growth of the team members participating in the process. The strategy team should be trained on the process you intend to follow in developing the strategic plan. Once that is competed the CEO/President should present the vision of the future with copies for everyone and then excuse himself from the meeting to allow the strategy team to tear the end game apart and put it back together. The President will have explained that they have the right and the obligation to challenge the end game if they do not agree with any part of it. However, any challenge to any portion must be accompanied by alternative recommendations. The concept is to finalize a “Vision for the Future” that everyone owns.
Step Four---- The SWOT analysis
The team will conduct a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis to identify critical constraints and potential opportunities for growth.
Step Five --- Developing the Critical Core Initiatives from the Vision for the Future
Critical core initiatives are over arching initiatives that are found within the Vision for the Future. An example may be defined as a human resource initiative for becoming employer of choice. There are many independent action steps (Strategic Implementation Plans – SIPs) that will be required to accomplish the Critical Core Initiative (CCI). They may include training, education, leadership development, compensation and benefits etc.
Identifying the CCI’s first is necessary to move on to the next step which is creating SIPs for each CCI.
Step Six--- Prioritize the CCI’s and identify individual SIPs for each CCI
A Strategic Implementation Plan (SIP) is a set of tasks that supports a Critical Core Initiative and therefore creates fundamental change in the way you do things. SIP work deals with long-term improvement and change, balancing concern for today with concern for the future and is a fundamental task of managerial decision-making. Work against SIPs deals with improving things for tomorrow.
Each Critical Core Initiative is supported by a set of SIPs that contain a sequenced set of tasks, schedules, and named responsible individuals. The creation of SIPs indicates that the chosen area is one that provides a high payoff in terms of innovation and managed change.
Step Seven --- Assign sections of the strategy template to be completed by different team members
Developing the strategy document from team homework assignments completed over the previous weeks is a matter of following the template that has been modified to meet your specific company needs.
Step Eight --- The accountability process
The key managerial tool to ensure steady, consistent progress on SIP tasks is the formal Operational Review Meeting (ORM). This is the foundation to insure that the strategic plan is successful. The ORM is held monthly. The purpose of the ORM is to:
• Clearly understand the status of your key initiatives.
• Keep executive focus on strategic, rather than just urgent, issues.
• Facilitate communication and support throughout the executive team and the company.
• Formulate emergency responses to company-wide threats or opportunities.
• Leverage all appropriate company resources while maintaining proper accountability for performance.
The ORM should be attended by members of the Strategy Team, executive management and other senior managers. It will follow a formal agenda and discussions will be driven by two objective measurements: performance of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and progress of SIP task completion. SIP and action item owners will be held accountable for achieving the desired results by the due date indicated on the plan. The entire team will be held accountable for meeting SIP goals.
Step Nine --- Developing the presentation for approval
The strategy team will provide the strategy document to ownership at least one week in advance of the formal presentation. Representatives of the strategy team will present the plan and defend it from a considered corporate challenge. The purpose of the challenge is to ensure that the plan is well thought out and based on a realistic assessment of the company’s risks and constraints. The presentation will also demonstrate the degree of commitment and ownership by the team. The objective of the meeting is to formally endorse the strategy for the company. If necessary, the team will revise and re-present the plan to obtain ownership approval.
Step Ten ---- The Roll Out Process
After formal acceptance, the President and two to three strategy team members should schedule meetings to introduce the strategy to the entire management team and all other employees, thus formally launching the strategy. This should be a big deal and should be completed as quickly as possible. In person presentations by executive management and strategy team members is highly recommended.
Strategy Development Overview
Strategic planning is a management tool. It is used to help an organization clarify its future direction – to focus its energy, and to help members of the organization work toward the same goals. The planning process adjusts the organization’s direction in response to a changing environment. Strategic planning is a disciplined effort to support fundamental decisions and actions that shape and guide what an organization is, what it does and why it does it, with a focus on where it wants to go and how it is going to get there.
Discipline is a prerequisite to this process because it requires laser like persistence to result in a productive strategic planning initiative. The process raises a sequence of questions that helps planners examine current reality, test assumptions, gather and incorporate information about the present and perform trend analysis on the future industry environment. The prioritization of initiatives and SIPs is an essential step. Although your strategic plan will cover a five to seven year period prioritized SIPs are worked on during the first twelve to eighteen month period based on bandwidth and resources while other CCIs and SIPs are deferred. It is much more effective to completely finish three or four SIPs pertaining to one or two CCI’s than to work on ten or twelve SIPs and accomplish nothing.
Fundamental decisions, actions and choices must be made in order to develop a plan that provides the roadmap to the future. The plan is ultimately no more, and no less, than a set of decisions about what to do, why to do it, when and how to do it. CEO Strategist is in the pro
A management team, which has worked together for a long period of time is much like a special team in the Armed Forces or a sports team. There is efficiency and organizational capital, which has been nurtured for years. However, sometimes things change and there will be a need for one of the executives to go to another division or department or set up another offshoot for the company.There will also be times of retirement, people leaving the company or even getting the ax due to the Board of Directors lack of confidence in the individual. Nevertheless no matter what the reason is for the change management there will be efficiency gaps within the organization as one hand does not understand what the other is doing because they have not been working together for as long.To prevent efficiency gaps from growing the team in place must understand how change management works and how to foster the remaining organizational capital and where things need to improve in the communication chain. Many people who talk about change management do so from a theoretical standpoint rather than an actual doing it standpoint.You can study change management all you want in the textbooks of America's greatest MBA schools and professors can teach class after class on the workings and psychological displacements caused during change management, but until you've been there and you have to deal with it in real life you may never fully understand it.It behooves you; if you find yourself in a change management situation to work on communication skills and get to know the other executives; how they think, how they work and their strong suits. What ever you feel they are lacking is your responsibility to help make that up and help foster a seamless environment. Please consider this in 2006.
Critical core initiatives are over arching initiatives that are found within the Vision for the Future. An example may be defined as a human resource initiative for becoming employer of choice. There are many independent action steps (Strategic Implementation Plans – SIPs) that will be required to accomplish the Critical Core Initiative (CCI). They may include training, education, leadership development, compensation and benefits etc.
Identifying the CCI’s first is necessary to move on to the next step which is creating SIPs for each CCI.
Step Six--- Prioritize the CCI’s and identify individual SIPs for each CCI
A Strategic Implementation Plan (SIP) is a set of tasks that supports a Critical Core Initiative and therefore creates fundamental change in the way you do things. SIP work deals with long-term improvement and change, balancing concern for today with concern for the future and is a fundamental task of managerial decision-making. Work against SIPs deals with improving things for tomorrow.
Each Critical Core Initiative is supported by a set of SIPs that contain a sequenced set of tasks, schedules, and named responsible individuals. The creation of SIPs indicates that the chosen area is one that provides a high payoff in terms of innovation and managed change.
Step Seven --- Assign sections of the strategy template to be completed by different team members
Developing the strategy document from team homework assignments completed over the previous weeks is a matter of following the template that has been modified to meet your specific company needs.
Step Eight --- The accountability process
The key managerial tool to ensure steady, consistent progress on SIP tasks is the formal Operational Review Meeting (ORM). This is the foundation to insure that the strategic plan is successful. The ORM is held monthly. The purpose of the ORM is to:
• Clearly understand the status of your key initiatives.
• Keep executive focus on strategic, rather than just urgent, issues.
• Facilitate communication and support throughout the executive team and the company.
• Formulate emergency responses to company-wide threats or opportunities.
• Leverage all appropriate company resources while maintaining proper accountability for performance.
The ORM should be attended by members of the Strategy Team, executive management and other senior managers. It will follow a formal agenda and discussions will be driven by two objective measurements: performance of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and progress of SIP task completion. SIP and action item owners will be held accountable for achieving the desired results by the due date indicated on the plan. The entire team will be held accountable for meeting SIP goals.
Step Nine --- Developing the presentation for approval
The strategy team will provide the strategy document to ownership at least one week in advance of the formal presentation. Representatives of the strategy team will present the plan and defend it from a considered corporate challenge. The purpose of the challenge is to ensure that the plan is well thought out and based on a realistic assessment of the company’s risks and constraints. The presentation will also demonstrate the degree of commitment and ownership by the team. The objective of the meeting is to formally endorse the strategy for the company. If necessary, the team will revise and re-present the plan to obtain ownership approval.
Step Ten ---- The Roll Out Process
After formal acceptance, the President and two to three strategy team members should schedule meetings to introduce the strategy to the entire management team and all other employees, thus formally launching the strategy. This should be a big deal and should be completed as quickly as possible. In person presentations by executive management and strategy team members is highly recommended.
Strategy Development Overview
Strategic planning is a management tool. It is used to help an organization clarify its future direction – to focus its energy, and to help members of the organization work toward the same goals. The planning process adjusts the organization’s direction in response to a changing environment. Strategic planning is a disciplined effort to support fundamental decisions and actions that shape and guide what an organization is, what it does and why it does it, with a focus on where it wants to go and how it is going to get there.
Discipline is a prerequisite to this process because it requires laser like persistence to result in a productive strategic planning initiative. The process raises a sequence of questions that helps planners examine current reality, test assumptions, gather and incorporate information about the present and perform trend analysis on the future industry environment. The prioritization of initiatives and SIPs is an essential step. Although your strategic plan will cover a five to seven year period prioritized SIPs are worked on during the first twelve to eighteen month period based on bandwidth and resources while other CCIs and SIPs are deferred. It is much more effective to completely finish three or four SIPs pertaining to one or two CCI’s than to work on ten or twelve SIPs and accomplish nothing.
Fundamental decisions, actions and choices must be made in order to develop a plan that provides the roadmap to the future. The plan is ultimately no more, and no less, than a set of decisions about what to do, why to do it, when and how to do it. CEO Strategist is in the pro
Based on a research, the need for technical workers in America continues to increase despite the fact that many U.S companies today are resorting to the various outsourcing companies worldwide. The Association for Computing Machinery gave out last Thursday the result of its study regarding such matter. It further stated that the services provided by foreign countries such as China and India do not really pose any serious threat towards technical workers living in the U.S.The research calculated that Information technology jobs in other foreign countries will decrease by 2% to 3% yearly through the so-called offshore industry. The study, however, further supported that the IT division in the U.S will continue to grow and will eventually surpass the loss of employment opportunities in areas like product design, IT consultation, software architecture, and project handling. Even though the U.S has recently publicized the loss of jobs due to the presence of the various offshore businesses, the rate of IT employment in the country is higher compared to the past years and the trend will continue in the succeeding years. In fact, the U.S government views IT as among the areas that would provide more growth and development in terms of job opportunities. The conducted research also reported that even the low-wage offer by the countries like China and India is not affecting at all the salary of the U.S based technical workers. According to the study done by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the yearly wage of these technical workers living in America has not significantly changed at all.The study maintains that certain facts justify why the rate of IT employment in the U.S continued to increase despite the growth of offshore industries. In fact the outsourcing business is even contributing to this effect. Through offsh
Step Nine --- Developing the presentation for approval
The strategy team will provide the strategy document to ownership at least one week in advance of the formal presentation. Representatives of the strategy team will present the plan and defend it from a considered corporate challenge. The purpose of the challenge is to ensure that the plan is well thought out and based on a realistic assessment of the company’s risks and constraints. The presentation will also demonstrate the degree of commitment and ownership by the team. The objective of the meeting is to formally endorse the strategy for the company. If necessary, the team will revise and re-present the plan to obtain ownership approval.
Step Ten ---- The Roll Out Process
After formal acceptance, the President and two to three strategy team members should schedule meetings to introduce the strategy to the entire management team and all other employees, thus formally launching the strategy. This should be a big deal and should be completed as quickly as possible. In person presentations by executive management and strategy team members is highly recommended.
Strategy Development Overview
Strategic planning is a management tool. It is used to help an organization clarify its future direction – to focus its energy, and to help members of the organization work toward the same goals. The planning process adjusts the organization’s direction in response to a changing environment. Strategic planning is a disciplined effort to support fundamental decisions and actions that shape and guide what an organization is, what it does and why it does it, with a focus on where it wants to go and how it is going to get there.
Discipline is a prerequisite to this process because it requires laser like persistence to result in a productive strategic planning initiative. The process raises a sequence of questions that helps planners examine current reality, test assumptions, gather and incorporate information about the present and perform trend analysis on the future industry environment. The prioritization of initiatives and SIPs is an essential step. Although your strategic plan will cover a five to seven year period prioritized SIPs are worked on during the first twelve to eighteen month period based on bandwidth and resources while other CCIs and SIPs are deferred. It is much more effective to completely finish three or four SIPs pertaining to one or two CCI’s than to work on ten or twelve SIPs and accomplish nothing.
Fundamental decisions, actions and choices must be made in order to develop a plan that provides the roadmap to the future. The plan is ultimately no more, and no less, than a set of decisions about what to do, why to do it, when and how to do it. CEO Strategist is in the process of producing a three CD set based on the strategic pyramid methodology for release by 1/1/2007 with a workbook that will walk you through every aspect of the DIY strategic planning process in great detail and provide all the forms and templates necessary for you to successfully complete a strategic plan with your team. E-mail rick@ceostrategist.com to reserve an advance copy of this program. In the mean time, you can request a copy of a generic template or get Rick’s recently published book “Leading the Pack” which has six “end game visions of the future examples” in the appendix.
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