Linda Hanson’s Blog

I know the word quickly associated with Strategic Planning will cause some people to laugh.  But there is no excuse for taking the time to develop a Strategic Plan and not fully implementing it.  Yes, parts of the plan will take time but like anything else if you divide it into blocks, it suddenly becomes more manageable to implement.  Yet there are many companies that invest in the development of the plan but not the full implementation. This happens in companies that do not fully engage their employees in the planning process which results in a huge waste of everyone’s time and a waste of money. 
It is hard to implement something that you don’t fully understand or that you had no part of creating.  In working with companies I have found the following steps worked well in moving the implementation process along quickly.
1.  Get all your people involved in developing the action plans; they need to be on board if they are going to implement the plan.
2. Set accountability for implementation by business unit, division and manager.  Have your managers set expectations with their employees.
3. Have monthly huddle sessions to review progress.  You can also use online dashboards to track progress.
4. Make implementation a mandatory part of your manager’s responsibilities.  After all, a Strategic Plan is a blueprint of actions that need to be accomplished.
5. Tie compensation into implementation.  Compensation is a strong motivator to meet goals.
6. Walk the talk.  Don’t mislead your employees about the importance of implementation by being too busy to hold them accountable.  If you don’t care they won’t care.
7. If something isn’t working in your plan; revise it.
Quickly is a relative term for many companies.   How quickly something is done, depends on your business, your industry and the size of your company.  But, if you have a three year plan and you haven’t implemented year one until year two you’re missing the whole idea of Strategic Planning.  Like a marketing or sales plan your Strategic Plan should be an ongoing, month to month process that moves your company forward. 

Accountability is a hot topic these days, primarily because companies need higher performance from their employees.  When I look at companies that are successful at developing and implementing their plans I can also see the results of employee accountability.  Therefore, I believe, Strategic Planning is the ultimate accountability tool.  Here’s why:
1.  Strategic Planning is a blueprint that gives the company direction.  Everyone in the company knows the company’s mission, vision, values and goals.  Employees know their responsibilities.
2. Each business unit and their employees develop their action plans tailored to their specific needs.  By setting up dashboards of what needs to be done, by whom and by when, everyone knows what is expected from them for the coming year.  Dashboards create a forum for discussion between employees and managers creating accountability.
3. Strategic Plans are flexible enough to accommodate tweaking to meet changes in the marketplace; thereby continually being current to the needs of the company and ensuring everyone is on board and on track.  Don’t be afraid to do a three year plan because you can make changes yearly.  J.C. Penney created a bridge plan that they are using until they can get back on track with their original Strategic Plan.  Their mission, vision and values haven’t changed but the uncertain economy drove the need to change some goals and action plans.  Accountability stems from their ongoing planning.
4. Strategic Plans give managers at all levels of the company a document with which to evaluate the progress of their employees.  If you evaluate progress monthly, especially in a down economy, your employees will be accountable.
5. Strategic Plans give you the ability to develop and set realistic compensation packages based on the implementation of the plan.  This is a powerful way to hold employees accountable. 
Companies that take the Strategic Plan all the way through successful implementation are the companies that have the best accountability tool available to drive higher performance.  Think about how important it is to your company to have employees who are clear about their goals and get rewarded for accomplishing them because they are accountable.  

Today business is about working quickly and efficiently.  It’s not just a question of how well you meet your goals.  It’s how smoothly and efficiently you respond to changes in the marketplace, how well you access information, and how quickly you make decisions.  Companies desiring to be successful in the years ahead should pay careful attention to their processes and systems that may be creating bottlenecks, have become time consuming, and may be jeopardizing their projects.

You can gauge how well your company’s processes are working in four ways:

1.                  Information.  Does each business unit in your organization stay informed about its customers, competitors, products and industry trends?  Does this information go through the company quickly and efficiently to everyone who needs it?

2.                  Organization Focus.  Does each business unit know and understand the company’s vision, mission and values?   How fast does the company respond to new information and new opportunities?  Does the company deliver excellence?  Can everyone communicate the company’s vision, mission and values?

3.                  Decision-making. Are managers and employees allowed to make decisions and manage their business?  Do they make good decisions and make them quickly?

4.                  Teamwork. Do employees share what they know with others?  Do they learn from their mistakes?  Do managers come together to solve problems?  Do employees thrive on change?

ACTIONS YOU CAN USE

Successful companies will be the ones that develop business process improvements that support today’s fast paced environment by reinventing the way they work. Inform your employees that if they value your time and their time and want to use it profitably they must identify processes that are time draining routine administrative chores and find more efficient ways to do the task.  If you are not accustomed to working with processes and systems begin by:

1.      Identifying where your company needs help due to out of date processes.

2.      Communicating a recent failure to your team that illustrates the high cost of not eliminating outmoded work processes.

3.      Describing how other companies and competitors benefited by improving their processes. 

4.      Advise your team how they can reach their goals by helping you reach yours. Show them how improved processes will help you be successful and hence help them be successful.

Make it your business to gather information to show your team how the results of your project could be positively affected by a change in processes.  Once you gain their agreement and their commitment you will be able to successfully impact them.  It will be time well spent.

While statistics show that 90% of strategic plans are poorly executed many are also poorly developed.  Poor development can kill a strategic plan before it even gets to the implementation stage.

Many companies find it difficult to do planning because there is no one process that fits every company.  There are, however, a number of factors influencing the quality of the strategic plan that you have control over.  So how do you ensure you don’t kill your plan before getting started?   Here is a list of things that companies do that causes strategic plans to fail:

1.      Lack of Strategic Leadership: If leaders of your company don’t come together to develop a vision for the organization or they don’t obtain employee commitment to achieving that vision it is an indication that strategic planning will have little value to the company.

2.      No Time for Strategic Planning – Many managers say they have no time for planning; they must concentrate on making quarterly numbers.  Managers who do not make time for Strategic Planning miss the opportunity to generate better growth opportunities or learn how to break the cycle of financial shortfalls.

3.      Fuzzy Goals and Priorities:  Managers often focus on tactical priorities and goals given their limited resources and time.  But managers need to develop strategic goals and priorities to positively impact the growth of their company. Strategies must also be translated into goals and objectives that are clearly communicated to employees and business units.

4.      Incomplete information for analysis: It is difficult, especially for smaller companies, to provide detailed information needed to complete various parts of the Strategic Plan.  Many companies do not anticipate all the information that is needed. The reason for such information is to capitalize on your company’s strengths and to identify opportunities while countering weaknesses and threats.

5.      Outmoded Processes: It is hard to implement a strategic plan if the processes within your company are out-of-date and not working well.  The strategies you develop for your company are dependent on the processes that a company uses to carry out its goals and objectives.    

6.      Avoid measuring its value – Companies that don’t frequently meet to review their strategic plan will find themselves managing in a reactive mode versus a proactive mode.  Meeting frequently to measure the results of their strategic plans is a way to solve short term issues that arise, review operational and employee issues, and evaluate new data. Meetings should be short, focused, driven by data and action oriented.

All the best,

Linda

Successful management and leadership of people is not easy to do. The mix of work styles, skills, personalities and educational backgrounds of your team members can vary dramatically causing you frustration. Therefore, it takes certain traits to nurture your management team. Since the best chance of success in your job comes from bringing out the best in people, ask yourself how well you do against this checklist of leadership traits published by Development Dimension International Inc.:

• Motivates employees: leads well.
• Has authenticity: is genuine and confident, has integrity, exudes trust.
• Brings out the best in people: inspires performance, moves others toward common goals.
• Learns from mistakes: likes to learn new information, is curious.
• Is receptive to feedback: seeks and uses feedback, accepts criticism, is humble.
• Has adaptability: accepts changes, adjusts quickly, and balances many demands.
• Is a conceptual thinker: thinks broadly, sees many perspectives and understands connections.
• Navigates ambiguity: simplifies complex situations, sees in shades of grey.
• Has a cultural fit.

At a time when the leadership tactics of many CEOs is still coming into question in many companies, when companies are in a strong competitive environment and when labor shortages threaten the growth of many companies, it is critical that you retain and recruit the best talent. Earning the respect you deserve within your team by being a highly effective boss will ensure your team performs well.

Many companies are complaining about the economy.  Business is slow and costs are high yet many companies are doing well.  How do they do it?  Look at the tactics below:

1.    Refining their processes to become more efficient.

2.    Providing exceptional customer service to retain and attract new customers.

3.    Consistently coaching their people to improve their performance and reduce errors.

4.    Keeping everyone focused on the goals.

5.    Reassigning non-revenue generating activities away from the sales force.

6.    Releasing people with a bad attitude.

7.    Hiring the best people that become available in your market.

8.    Staying focused on profitable sales.

Be the best you can be in this economy. The best source of business is always more business from your existing customers. If they are happy they continue to buy and they tell everyone they know that your company is good. 

I just returned today from a conference in Reno where I was asked to speak on Business Models.  Consultants from all over the world attended my session as I shared ideas for changing their business model. A business model is simply the way you do business and make money.  Here is a peak at some of the steps that are needed to identify your current business model:

1.    Identify how you create value for your customers.

2.    Determine the group of customers and market segments you are targeting.

3.    Identify how you get business and repeat business and how you are better than your competitor.

4.    Outline how you provide your services/products to get revenue.

5.    Identify how you are positioned in the market versus your competition.

6.    Map the strategy you use at the current time based on your clients and the market.

Once you have a thorough understanding of your current business model you can begin to assess the changes you need to make to weather the current economy.  Think outside the box to come up with new ideas, choose suitable changes, implement them, and evaluate your model on a regular basis. 

There are few issues that business leaders face today that are more important than the effort to hire and retain good employees.  Business leaders talk about it all the time and consultants can prove it positively affects the bottom line. 

So, if business leaders are committed to hiring top employees and retaining them why are so many companies shedding such large numbers of employees?  Six months ago those same leaders were screaming about not being able to find good people.  Does that mean that companies have been hiring mediocre employees rather than spending time finding and retaining superior performers?   We all know that in a down economy the mediocre employees go first—or do they!  How does a company know who are the mediocre employees?    Maybe they are just in the wrong job or working for a poor leader. 

So, here’s the challenge.  If you are a CEO, a manager or an HR professional and you want retain valuable employees and find out who isn’t the right fit, use some tools like professional employee assessments and job benchmarking.  The worst that can happen is you will shed the right employees and reduce turnover when the economy turns around.   

Over the years, especially when the economy is in a downturn, I hear sales people say, “My customers want a lower price.”  If you are selling commodities that might be true, but in most industries when price becomes an issue, you need to increase your value.  If you have a salesperson who insists on giving a lower price, you need a new salesperson.  Yes, even when the economy is in a downturn.  Anyone can sell anything if the price is low enough.   Now is the time to develop a strategy with your sales people that won’t give away the store.

Maybe you should abandon some customers!

When you want to grow your business it means changing something.  Companies spend a lot of time arguing about strategies, objectives and tactics but there is a revolution brewing in some companies:  they are refusing to accept some types of business and as a result they are growing their businesses. 

This sounds hard but it’s not.  Once you understand that some business causes you to lose money it becomes easy to make the decision to make more profit.  The flipside is easy, keep accepting the same clients who cause you to lose money and stunt your growth.