Is your time limited? Is your focus on the day-to-day tasks required just to run your business? You are not alone! Many owners, leaders and managers get overwhelmed by working “in” their business versus “on” their business. Putting out daily fires, problem solving and completing the necessary tasks to finish the day. Because of this, they are unable to take the time to create and implement a strong vision for their company, employees and customers.
Every successful organization has created a plan to drive positive results. While a plan is required to deliver success, many people fail to take the first steps to create one. It takes time to research strategies, write a plan and execute it in a measurable way that can later be adapted for greater success.
So, what are the steps to creating a successful plan?
First, there needs to be a commitment made by the leadership team. This commitment is around dedicating time, resources and ongoing alignment to stay on task, focus and make this a priority for your organization. This should not be treated as an event, but as a journey. You may want to find help in guiding and supporting this journey. An outside source can be your project leader to help in providing coaching, conducting and delivering a documented plan to utilize and implement. Create the leadership team to represent the various departments that will drive the plan throughout your organization.
Second, do the research! It is vital to start with a deep dive into your status as an organization. There are a series of exercises which will reveal a lot about your organization internally, how you see the outside world and how the outside world sees your company. The goal of this process is to think critically about the unmet needs of your company and customers. Some of these exercises include, SWOT Analysis, (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats Analysis), Market Trends, Competitive Landscape Analysis, Pricing Strategies, Customer Expectations, etc.
After you compile this data, it is time to determine the core purpose of your organization to your current and future customers. If someone asked each person in your organization to “describe what your company does and stands for,” would they have the same answer? It is very likely that each person would provide a different generic statement about “having great employees, making great products, having great service, having inventory or having the best quality.” To create a unified response, develop a clear and concise purpose or “Vision Statement” that presents the company’s value proposition and direction effectively. Once the Vision Statement is established it can be used for messaging, branding and deliverables of offerings.
Now that you have completed the research phase, it is time to build the plan. One commonly used process that allows for various adjustments based on customer needs is OGSIM. This is a five-step process consisting of Objectives, Goals, Strategies, Initiatives and Measurements. These five steps combine to create a foundation for what is relevant to your overall success:
O - Objectives are strategic, over-arching ideals that are central to the business. Often called “Pillars,” objectives can include things such as Maximizing Financial Performance, Achieving Market Penetration and Organizational Effectiveness, to name a few.
G – Goals should be specific and attainable. It is recommended to include a percentage or dollar amount in goals so that they can be measured later using KPIs. It is also helpful to include a timeline on goals to determine their success.
S – Strategies or key strategies, are policies or plans of action critical to completing goals. Most are also key support items to drive the behavior necessary to achieve results for the Objectives and Goals.
I – Initiatives are tactical details of execution used to build upon the key strategies. Initiatives can be used to set priorities in reference to the Objectives and Goals. They often give direction and focus.
M – Measurements are arguably the most important part. Each of the previous steps must be measured in some way to determine their effectiveness and success. It is important to keep a detailed record of each of the steps along the way. Again, KPIs can be used to measure success so that adaptations and changes can be made to improve.
All items cannot be completed simultaneously, so prioritize what needs to happen in what order. This is particularly important with Strategies and Initiatives since they directly feed into the team’s workload and directly display the organization’s progress. Developing the previously mentioned KPIs will provide a measuring tool and milestones.
The final step in creating a successful plan is execution and communication to the entire organization at one time. Your leadership team should be held accountable in delivering the plan throughout the organization. Employees always want to know how we are doing and where we are going. This is a great way to drive excitement throughout the company.
Holding your teams accountable is critical to the success of your plan, so biweekly or monthly meetings to review status of key initiatives are vital to the execution to deliver the identified results. As you review, you will find the need to adjust; this is normal and should be encouraged based on additional findings or changes within data or the market.
As always, remember to use success in key milestones and positive results to energize the entire team! You need to stay focused on the plan.
Do you need help building a plan to achieve your vision for growth? Please reach out to IMARK Leadership. We are willing to assess your current plan and assist you in this valuable process. For more information or questions you may have on this process, please contact Bill Ward @ wward@imarkgroup.com.