Strategic Management Insights

 

Annual Strategy Tune Up

It’s the start of a brand new year, which means it’s a good time to make sure your entire team is clear on your game plan (aka strategy).  And you don’t necessarily need a Balanced Scorecard to do it. 

A clear, well-communicated game plan boosts morale (we all like to be included in the big picture) and improves performance (most people will support the cause if they understand it).  You can do this in a few minutes or a few hours – either way it’s worth doing. 

The answers to the following questions constitute your basic game plan:

  1. What do our shareholders/funders want to see?

  2. What primary market/customer segments do we serve?  (Hopefully not everyone)

  3. What services/products do we offer them?  (Hopefully not everything)

  4. Where are our products/services on the low cost vs. product innovation scale?  (Think E Machines vs. HP vs. Apple)

  5. What do our customers most value in our product/service and the way we do business with them?

  6. How do we differentiate ourselves from our competitors?

  7. What internal processes must we excel at to achieve our customer and financial objectives?

  8. What steps can we take to build a winning team?

If you have only a few minutes to invest in this, then simply write down your answers to these questions and distribute them to your entire team by email.  They’ll appreciate it. 

If you want to spend a little more time and get more benefit, then discuss your answers with senior team members before sending the game plan out to the team as a whole.

To reap the greatest benefit, you’ll want to invest a little time in “town hall” discussions with as many people as you feel comfortable including.  The process will greatly increase buy-in, and most likely generate some very useful ideas.

So, go ahead . . . . take a few minutes to do this.  It’s one of the most powerful things you can do to translate vision and goals into reality for the coming year.

- Brian Kinahan

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