Summary:
Planning a vacation is a lot like strategic planning. When planning a vacation, you have to consider who’s going with you; what you’re going to do; when you’re going to go; where you’re going to go; why you’re going in the first place; and, how you’re going to get there. In other words, the five W’s and an H (who, what, when, where, why, and how). These same questions need to be addressed in strategic planning.
As the leader of the organization, you’re the driver or pilot, or engineer (depending on the mode of transportation you select) and the members of the organization are on board (hopefully) and going along for the ride.
Article Quote:
“If you want to have the best success with the strategic direction of your organization, get the members involved in the process of setting the direction and then communicate all the details of where you’re going, how you’re getting there, why it’s important to go there… you know… the five W’s and an H.”
Link:http://www.firehouse.com/blog/rgasaway/strategic-planning-vacation-planning
After you have identified the five W’s and and H, the next step is to get everyone on board with the plan. This, of course is much easier said than done. First, management needs to believe in the plan and show commitment to it because without this commitment, employees are likely to not feel its importance.
To effectively execute the plan, management needs to translate the plan into actionable steps that can be measured. These steps need to be practical enough to be input in each employee’s daily to-do list as these tasks correlate to overall objectives.
For more on strategic planning, see http://www.performancesolutionstech.com/category/strategicplanning/
Summary:
The way to think strategically is to identify your important longer-term goals, then deploy your means – resources, capabilities, time and energy in order to achieve these objective that lead you like stepping-stones towards the desired result. You will notice that by setting these intermediate targets and objectives of goals signifies that you have moved beyond strategic thinking and into strategic planning.
With creative strategic thinking it is essential to draw upon the whole “collective wisdom” of the organization by utilizing the diversity of thoughts and ideas of your organization. This “collective wisdom” should not be confined to only those in operational or team leadership role.
Article Quote:
“Means can be seen as creative resources and capabilities, throwing us new ends. In creative strategic thinking of this kind, it is essential that members of an organization, not just those in senior leadership roles, can themselves think creatively and strategically.”
Link:http://www.offlinexfactorreview.com/creative-strategic-thinking-for-your-leadership-role/
When individuals begin thinking strategically, the entire organization benefits. Unfortunately, getting everyone in the organization to think strategically is a challenge that many in leadership avoid.
Enhancing the ability to think strategically involves overcoming the fear of failure, taking incremental steps, and making a commitment -setting a good example – so others will follow you. Furthermore, leadership should not wait for the ideal moment to execute the plan as that can lead to missed opportunity.
For more on strategic planning, see http://www.performancesolutionstech.com/category/strategicplanning/
Summary:
Strategic planning is important because it allows leadership to closely look at business functions, strengths, weakness, and opportunities while focusing energy and resources towards goals. Developing a strategic plan is only half the battle; the other half is executing the plan. Once you have your plan, check it against reality. If it is an unrealistic goal, your motivation is likely to deflate as months pass.
Author Cat Mason describes what she calls a “life sandbox” -the life context that her business exists within. By allocating time to life demands such as work, home, personal goals, etc., she is able to more accurately fit her business goals into the time she realistically can provide. Finally, break down the goals into projects with timelines and block out time from your schedule to accomplish these projects.
Article Quote:
“Planning is great … but plans are only as good as our ability to implement them. So what can you do NOW, while you’re focused, excited and motivated about the year ahead to ensure your plan does get converted into action?”
Link: http://www.herbusinessblog.com/grow-your-business/beyond-planning-easy-ways-to-convert-your-plan-into-action
Setting realistic goals and executing them by breaking them into manageable tasks, scheduling time to see that they get accomplished, and monitoring progress will greatly increase your chance of realizing your goals.
Performance technology can help keep you focused with instant visibility on the strategic plan, objectives to accomplish, daily to-do’s that work towards objectives, and monitoring capabilities that let you know instantly where you’re at in completing those objectives.
For more on strategic planning and execution, see http://www.performancesolutionstech.com/category/strategicplanning/
Summary:
The advent of social media has changed the way companies, large and small, interact with their customers online. From a local small business to a global e-commerce company, it’s imperative to understand the way social networks, social bookmarking, and social news sites are affecting your business.
Providing social media content that is relevant to viewers is very important if you wish to succeed in this arena. On the flip side, carefully listening to what your viewers are saying can provide valuable insight as to customer wants and opinions.
Article Quote:
“Marketers are afraid of the unknown and also giving up control of their brand. They are also afraid of making mistakes. That is why it’s important to fail fast, fail forward, and fail better. You aren’t going to get it right the first time so be quick to listen, interact, react, and repeat.”
Link: http://searchenginewatch.com/sew_experts/social-media
Let’s face it, social marketing has changed the way we do business. As human beings, we have the dichotomous psychological need to be our own individual, yet we also want to feel like we belong to, and are accepted by, a much larger social set.
Incorporating social media into your strategic plan can improve customer satisfaction as well as business performance. Learning by past failures is how we get to “fail fast, fail forward, and fail better.”
For more information on strategic planning, see http://www.performancesolutionstech.com/category/strategicplanning/
Summary:
The author highlights asset tracking and asserts that it should be more than an accountancy compliance issue. It’s an essential component of informed and sound management.That’s especially important with IT asset tracking.
IT equipment is at the heart of any business today and often realizes great changes during its operational lifetime. Some of these changes include software that is frequently installed, un-installed- or upgraded. Often, components are switched, replaced or upgraded. Many of these changes are internal and therefore normally “invisible.”
Article Quote:
“Assets must be managed both financially and physically and to do that you require knowledge of just where all your assets are. Many companies rely on a conventional spreadsheet approach to try to keep track of their fixed assets to ensure the company is compliant with national and international regulations.”
Link: http://www.tolimancorps.com/the-strategic-management-benefits-of-asset-tracking/
Asset management and tracking is another vitally important task keeping companies both in regulation compliance and more importantly, knowledgeable about their own assets. You don’t know what you can’t see!
Central to any inventory tracking software system should be a powerful, centralised database which provides controlled access for all parties that require it. Companies that utilize strategic planning software, instead of just spreadsheets, realize better results easier than ever before.
For more on strategic planning, see http://www.performancesolutionstech.com/category/strategicplanning/
Summary:
A strategic and sales plan puts your marketing plan into action and is the implementation work horse of a business plan. This article on the strategic and sales planning process is divided into ten sections, which are presented in a particular, building-block order. First, identify and rank your potential problems in your company operations and develop company objectives to minimize and manage these problem areas.
Other sections in this article include: Risk Analysis; Company Strategy, Strategic Tactics and Programs; Sales Strategy; Sales Program; Strategic Alliances and Joint Ventures; Rolling Basis Operating Budget; Sales Forecast; Milestone Table; and Control Mechanisms. For a description of these sections, please follow the link below.
Article Quote:
“Strategy is focus and consists of key factors that distinguish your company and are most expected to contribute to your success. It is important that your company strategies complement each other so you are not sending your business in separate directions.”
Link: http://alcorp.net/?p=26433
Strategic planning is only half the battle; the other half is successfully executing the plan. First, break down the goals/objectives into manageable, realistic steps that can be measured. Measuring progress gives management greater visibility so they can respond quickly to change and course correct parts of the plan if necessary. For instance, if an objective is not completed by the predetermined time, it allows management an opportunity to investigate the reasons why. Perhaps the timeline was unrealistic to begin with, or someone simply didn’t get it done. By monitoring results often, accountability increases and the plan is allowed to remain flexible.
For more on strategic planning, see http://www.performancesolutionstech.com/category/strategicplanning/
Summary:
Developing a pricing strategy can be difficult, especially in an economic recession. Dana Baldwin, Senior Consultant with Center for Simplified Strategic Planning, Inc. believes the key is to strategically determine the pricing band, which is best for your product/service in light of current conditions . He goes on to write that pricing policy is one of the most strategic issues that a company can deal with-both for the short term and the long term as it directly influences market strategy.
To begin with, you need to determine where your products and services are positioned in your market place. Each one of your products need to be analyzed in terms of where it is located on a spectrum from pure specialty to pure commodity. Nearly all products have characteristics of both specialty and commodity products. The challenge is to determine the behavior of the specific product or service in each market in which it competes.
Article Quote:
“Pricing can be very tricky in times like the ones we are going through currently. Too high a price and you can lose considerable volume, customer loyalty and market share. Too low a price could lead to diminished profits, commoditization of the brand or product/service and lower long term prospects.”
Link: http://www.cssp.com/strategicplanning/blog/?p=539
Developing an appropriate pricing policy needs to be determined in order to keep customers while not loosing potential profits. Market intelligence research should be conducted before any decisions are made about pricing and where to offer products. Pricing strategy is just one element of the business plan that needs careful attention when developing a clearly defined strategy.
For more on strategy, see http://www.performancesolutionstech.com/category/strategic-manager/
Summary:
Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner has not hit its development milestones, causing Boeing to take a $2.5 billion charge against earnings. The key to Boeing’s past success has been its ability to achieve its “big hairy audacious goals or BHAGs” (fromBuilt to Last by Jim Collins and Jerry Porras).
Boeing decided to outsource not only the manufacturing of components but also the design, in order to keep development costs on the 787 Dreamliner low and to please Wall Street investors. By outsourcing, Boeing was able to spread some of the financial risk of the project to its contractors. While this may have spread the financial risk, it increased the execution risk.
Article Quote:
“Boeing’s problems did not just come from the outside; they were a direct result of actions taken by Boeing. Talk about the good ideas that you have, but also about the possible unexpected outcomes. For example, it was a good idea to mitigate the financial risk, but the unexpected outcome was to increase the execution risk.”
Link: http://www.cssp.com/strategicplanning/blog/?p=514
As your company ramps up a significant new development effort, take the time to assess the risks. Take a look at threats - things that can impact you from the outside. Also, look for ways to prevent threats or reduce exposure. What are some early warning signs? Set up contingency plans and hedge your risk if you can. These are the traditional risk assessment and mitigation steps.
Boeing may have avoided much wasted time if they had implemented strategic planning technology. Boeing could have developed more advanced communication tools earlier. For example, technology allows you to video conference and share designs so that there is clarity around the issues being discussed – simple emails often do not communicate the full complexity of a specific issue – especially when there were 28 different languages between the various sub-contractors.
For more on strategic planning technology, see http://www.performancesolutionstech.com/category/strategicplanning/
Summary:
What’s the key to successfully jump starting your business and transforming your dream into reality? It’s simple: plan the work and work the plan. Even if you have little experience, developing and implementing a plan improves your chances of achieving your goals.
This article outlines the fundamental components of crafting a strategic plan to take your business to the next level. Conducting research and identifying opportunities, threats, competition factors, etc. is the first step to starting a business or developing a strategic plan.
Article Quote:
“Strategic planning is the process by which the key stakeholders in an organization envision its future and develop the procedures and operations that will enable you to achieve that vision. A strategic business plan serves two purposes. First it’s an internal document that defines your goals, strategies, and tactics. Second, it’s a tool for raising capital.”
Link: http://businesstopschools.com/236_the-secret-to-success-in-business-planning…plan-your-work-and-work-your-plan
After defining your goals and putting them into action, follow-up is essential. Identifying the ideas or objectives that improve the business while also changing direction if something is not working helps avoid pitfalls before they become huge losses.
Running your own business can be highly rewarding, but it’s often a risky endeavor. Over half of new businesses fail for lack of a good plan. As with almost everything, increasing your chances of success begins with preparation.
For more information of strategic planning, see http://www.performancesolutionstech.com/category/strategic-manager/
Summary:
The most critical element for a successful strategic plan is the extent to which everyone in the company can see a direct link between high performance in what they do every day and the long-term prosperity of the company.
Offered are key elements of a strategic plan, including who should participate, what to include in the vision and mission statements, and short & long term goals. Resistance to change should be expected and one of the best ways to overcome this resistance is to have those who will be implementing the changes participate in determining what those changes will be.
Article Quote:
“Plan the work and work the plan. Whether it’s an individual salesperson’s call plan for the next week or the company’s strategic plan for years to come, the principle is the same. It doesn’t matter how great the plan is if implementation is poor, excessively late or both. In this regard, follow-up to compare actual results with plan is invaluable.”
Link: http://www.activegarage.com/strategic-plan-critical-to-successful-implementation-of-key-decisions
Ultimately you need to make your daily calendar reflect what’s strategically important, not just a list of your scheduled appointments and deadlines. Your day is going to be a challenge between what’s required and what’s strategically important.
A great way to increase productivity is to stop multi-tasking and start chunking your time into smaller segments. By doing so, you can achieve more in the same amount of time. Strategic planning software is a valuable tool when managing tasks and people.
For more on strategic planning, see http://www.performancesolutionstech.com/category/strategic-manager/