By twelch in
Strategic Planning
Mar
2
Summary:
Strategic planning is a great way to advance your business and achieve your goals. Being a seat-of-the-pants entrepreneur, it might feel challenging at first, but stick with it and you will soon see the reward of using strategic planning throughout every department of your company.
Key to strategic planning is the vision you have for your business. Building from your clearly defined vision, set two to three realistic goals and then develop a plan on how to achieve those goals. Goals should be able to be broken down into timelines that you can integrate into daily or weekly tasks.
Article Quote:
“If you are a seat-of-the-pants entrepreneur, then strategic planning can make you feel like a fish out of water. However, strategic planning is neither boring nor unimportant. In fact, it’s necessary to help you assess where your business currently stands, and how to push forward toward your goals.”
Link: http://www.wahm.com/articles/strategic-planning-for-seat-of-the-pants-entrepreneurs.html
Integrating goals in a way that is manageable and measurable allows for incremental successes that build up and help get the goal accomplished. Develop shorter strategies that range from six to eight months that are also included in the bigger picture.
Working on your strategic plans requires commitment. Finding the right balance between daily operations and incorporation of the strategic plan can be obtained with the use of performance technology.
For more on strategic planning, seehttp://www.performancesolutionstech.com/category/strategicplanning/
By twelch in
Strategic Planning
Mar
1
Summary:
Starting off the new year with a strategic plan and high hopes to achieve success won’t get you far if your plan is flawed, as most are. The following steps outline the basics when developing a strategic plan.
1. Know the difference between a strategy and a tactic. Strategy is the plan that defines where you’re going. Tactics are the things you do and use to get to the destination.
2. Be specific. A few words can make all the difference in the direction you take your firm, and the tactics you use to implement a strategy.
3. Engage the aging process. Like great wine, the making of a strategic plan takes time. A strategic plan is NOT built during a weekend retreat! It evolves out of thoughts, research, information, and experiences.
4. Keep it simple. Use the A-B-C approach:
A. Establish what you want to achieve: STRATEGY.
B. List available, realistic ways to make it happen: TACTICS
C. Select options that give the highest rewards for the lowest output: IMPLEMENTATION.
5. Follow the plan. Most plans are developed, and then put on a shelf.
6. Be flexible. If, during the course of the year, you find that the plan needs some tweaking, you can certainly modify it. Be careful not to switch directions too often, as this will discredit you and your plan in the eyes of its followers.
Article Quote:
“Every year, we meet thousand of decision makers around the country in our consulting and speaking work. Like you, they’re smart, ambitious, and they’re doing a decent job. But, they’re also often frustrated that they aren’t doing better. When we break down the element for them, we find that few if any of them have a good strategic plan they can work from. In fact, most of them don’t even know how to create one.”
Link: http://lazerpromotions.com/blog/general/6-ways-to-build-a-stronger-strategic-plan
All the steps listed above are important to follow when building and implementing your strategic plan. Another useful tool is performance technology that not only keeps the plan visible to all users, but allows management an instant view of progress and accountability. ManagePro software is one such application that allows users to execute and monitor their strategic plans.
For more on strategic planning, see http://www.performancesolutionstech.com/category/strategicplanning/
By twelch in
Strategic Planning
Feb
4
Summary:
Every commercial operation needs a plan; therefore, you must be speedy to emanate a commercial operation plan, according to this author. After a plan is developed, you need a process to safeguard which devise is implemented; this is where vital formulation comes in to play. You need to understand the people in your group and their skillsets, set measurable milestones for completion of tasks, keep an open mind and encourage thinking outside the box, and post goals in highly visible areas for all to see.
Although having a monitor present typically isn’t referred to as an required component, it should be. The monitor should be a non-staff chairman or other person with an objective view. Their pursuit will be to keep the review relocating forward. They are not there to carry out the conversation, but to safeguard that everybody gets a chance to be heard. This keeps the loudest and most persistent personalities from dominating the conversation. It should be a protected place for people to share ideas.
Article Quote:
“Strategic planning, in simplest terms, is the routine of receiving your commercial operation devise and creation it in to movement items. Identifying what you’ll outlay time accomplishing in sequence to encounter your commercial operation devise objectives.”
Link: http://www.noplc.co.cc/strategic-planning/
Strategic planning and execution focuses attention and resources on future goals. Having an efficient monitor present during the planning stage increases participation and keeps the group focused and moving forward. Moving beyond the planning stage, execution of the plan should be broken down into time lines that translate all the way down into daily tasks. This will keep the plan active as objectives will be continually worked on.
Performance technology can greatly assist in not only developing the plan, but also by enabling everyone in the organization to have access to goals and tracking progress. Being able to drill-down all the way down to the individual increases follow through and accountability.
For more on strategic planning and execution, see http://www.performancesolutionstech.com/category/strategicplanning/
By twelch in
Strategic Planning
Jan
21
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/
By twelch in
Strategic Planning
Jan
18
Summary:
A few short years ago BPM was primarily focused on addressing the budgeting and planning needs of the finance department. Today, business performance management has become much more than that. Craig Schiff, President and CEO of BPM Partners writes that BPM is has become the primary front-office strategic decision-making tool. By utilizing business intelligence (BI) tools, BPM converts data from transactional systems into meaningful and actionable information for management decision making.
Financial reporting, particularly management reporting, along with profitability analysis and optimization, has also grown in importance in BPM.
Article Quote:
“Many companies have come to the realization that you really can’t fully understand the business by just looking at the consolidated numbers at the top. You need to examine what is going on, on a daily basis, at the operational level.”
Link: http://www.b-eye-network.com/view/12282
Business performance management will continue to grow and change with business needs. Comprehensive business performance management has become a mission-critical initiative for many companies, while for others, it remains a back-burner item.
Performance technology is yet another tool in the business performance management arsenal. Performance technology software allows users instant access to vital information regarding their strategic plan and day-to-day performance objectives. By regularly monitoring results, management can course correct when necessary while watching for opportunities to present themselves.
For more on business performance management, see http://www.performancesolutionstech.com/category/strategicplanning/
By twelch in
Strategic Planning
Jan
15
Summary:
Every business needs to have a strategic marketing plan in place if they want to maximize their return on investments while getting their product or service promoted. Applying strategic planning to marketing will help focus your goals and provide a tactical plan to accomplish those goals. In this article, Jeremiah Tyson offers several tips to follow when applying your marketing skills.
First, marketers need to follow the 80:20 rule that concentrates on the 20 percent of products/services, and on the 20 percent of customers, which will account for 80 percent of the volume and 80 percent of the profit. Other tips offered by Tyson are to decide on your niche market, which kinds of advertising to use, and when to implement your marketing choice(s). Next, consistently split testing multiple types of the same marketing methods will help find better methods and as a result, will help maximize results and efforts.
Article Quote:
“Lay out a plan for yourself. Your marketing efforts will fail if you do not have a set plan that is executed precisely. Do all of your research before putting anything into action.”
Link: http://ezinearticles.com/?Why-is-Strategic-Planning-So-Important-in-Marketing?&id=3545278
Strategic planning, whether for marketing or for your overall business, requires an understanding of where you want to be versus the reality of where you are now. Strategic execution is essentially bridging the gap between the two. To successfully execute your strategic plan, provide well-defined and realistic benchmarks that will get you closer to the ultimate goal. Measure your results and course correct when necessary and keep a constant watch for market opportunities that arise.
Performance technology is useful when it makes the plan available to everyone in the organization. By providing visibility of the plan, buy-in and accountability increases and your plan won’t get shelved and forgotten until the next planning session.
For more information on strategic planning, see http://www.performancesolutionstech.com/category/strategicplanning/
By twelch in
Strategic Planning
Dec
29
Summary:
Mr. Baldwin highlights key elements in any new product development process. These elements should include market intelligence equipped to provide well-thought-out analyses of potential new products and markets; Development capabilities sufficient to develop the new products specified by the market intelligence; production capabilities appropriate to make the products developed; marketing and sales abilities to promote and sell the products; distribution/logistics with the capacities to stock and deliver the products as needed. All of these elements must be included for a successful new product launch.
Article Quote:
“By properly analyzing your customers’ wants and requirements, what your competition is offering and what your company is capable of delivering, market intelligence should help your company focus its product development process on those projects which show the best possibilities for success in the future.”
Link: http://www.cssp.com/strategicplanning/blog/?p=528
By far the most relevant element in any new product development strategic plan is gathering market intelligence. Developing a clear understanding of what customers want, what the competitors are offering, and coupled that with an accurate financial analysis of what your company is capable of producing, marketing, and delivering is critical to a successful launch.
After launch, monitoring results of the strategic plan with performance technology that allows users immediate visibility on the various departments and their performance gives executives greater control over the entire process.
For more on strategic planning, see http://www.performancesolutionstech.com/category/strategicplanning/
By twelch in
Strategic Planning
Dec
21
Summary:
In the fore-front of every health care company’s strategic radar screen is health care reform. However, this author highlights many other important trends to watch, such as medical home, cloud computing platforms, socialnomics, accountable care organizations, comparative effectiveness indicators, and customer transparency.
Offered is advice on surviving the healthcare reform by monitoring mega-trends such as, watching the consumer trends, who Wall Street is watching, and how innovators are positioning themselves.Amidst this looming change, strategists must be prepared to identify and capture opportunity, have the capacity to absorb change, and manage through obstacles to build on their company’s advantages.
Article Quote:
“Strategic planning calls for analytical thinking and objective decision-making that continuously works to improve corporate vision and strengthen brand. Management needs answers to tough, introspective questions.”
Link:http://www.lindsayresnick.com/healthcare_strategy/2009/12/what-to-watch-in-2010-reform-medicare-strategy.html
The sweeping healthcare reform set to change this nation is a major concern not only for the healthcare industry, but also for everyone who uses it. How the healthcare industry faces these challenges and how it will affect every American remains to be seen. The challenge is finding the opportunities and adapting quickly to change. Monitoring, analyzing , and interpreting trends and incorporating scenarios into the planning process enables leadership to make intelligent and informed decisions. Performance technology is a great tool to use when developing and implementing a strategic plan.
For more on strategic planning, see http://www.performancesolutionstech.com/category/strategicplanning/
By twelch in
Strategic Planning
Dec
17
Summary:
A few years ago, many HR executives developed workforce-management models with two main assumptions – droves of baby boomers will soon retire and entry-level workers will hop from job to job. Throwing a wrench into those models is the fact that neither group is doing as expected due to the economic crisis.
More that half of HR professionals reported that their workforce-planning models were “moderately effective,” and nearly a quarter surveyed reported “slightly effective,” according to a study conducted by the Institute for Corporate Productivity.
This author asserts that a model should consist of a basic dashboard that clearly outlines the economic assumptions the company has made to support its model, and make sure it can be easily changed if the economic atmosphere changes in the future.
Article Quote:
“Strategic planning can help identify likely scenarios that the organization should be planning for; finance understands the labor costs and financial requirements for each likely economic scenario; and HR, of course, knows the labor market and the skill levels of the organization’s people.”
Link:http://www.hreonline.com/HRE/story.jsp?storyId=305177010
Incorporating work-force planning into the strategic planning process will keep it dynamic and adjustable to change. Models are only good if the assumptions built into them are accurate. Strategic planning technology can save frustration and provide clarity on objectives and their performance by incorporating scenario planning with the ability to track results. This allows businesses to remain flexible when factors change.
For more information on strategic planning, see http://www.performancesolutionstech.com/category/strategicplanning/
By vgoodwin in
Strategic Planning
Dec
17
Summary:
The article speaks about how a business can be ran by illiterate management, but will never grow or become competitive within their market without the study of business management. The author points out that a successful company still needs intellectual executives, finance managers, and HR managers to remain competitive.
Article Quote:
“Some people wonder, why should someone study Business Management, since illiterate people own good businesses without even having any proper knowledge about it? A small and limited business run by an illiterate businessman may make profits and may sustain for a longer period, no doubt at this, but it will never grow and expand its branches to the other parts of the country and international markets which is the ultimate goal of an intellectual businessman. “
The various products developed by talented people around the world that facilitated the life of all millions of human beings are the results of professionalism and education. Performance technology is among these products that can literally change the way you do business.
For more information about strategic planning technology, see http://www.performancesolutionstech.com/category/strategicplanning/