Spoiler: Go to Reviews and Create and Execute a Strategic Communications Plan It is challenging to keep everyone in an organization, especially as it grows, informed and aligned to goals, plans, and progress. Within the context of executing the most important strategic work to the company, however, clear and timely communications are critical. The easiest …
Now that you know WHAT you are going to do, it is time to implement. There are two facets to this. First is the Project Management Office or PMO, keeping tabs at the high level of all initiatives and continuing to prioritize between existing work (back to WSJF). Second is the individual project implementation work. …
Now that you have a Thematic Goal, you can start considering the Strategic Initiatives which will support the goal. Most companies have limited resources, including time, budget, and people with capacity to make things happen, and therefore need to prioritize and focus on the most value-add or important items to realize in any given period. …
Now that your organization has a Strategic Roadmap in place, how can you ensure that all departments will work together to accomplish these broad goals, rather than each determining their own course of action that may or may not consider the team as a whole? In his book, Silos, Politics, and Turf Wars, Patrick Lencioni …
Once your free-flowing brainstorming session time is over, it is time to confirm your Strategy and organize your Strategic Roadmap. The Strategy will consider the business you are in (or want to be in) from your earlier vision, mission, values and growth goals; and determine how your organization will thrive in that business. Historically, we …
Developing a Strategy, while often considered a “Blue Sky” activity, necessarily must be grounded in the current reality of the organization and its environment. Only when taking these things into account, coupled with knowledge of the type of growth you want and your Vision for the future, can an effective Strategy be determined. Thus, the …
Before you head off into the strategic realm, it is often helpful to consider what you are trying to do as an organization (your Mission) and where you want to be in the future (your Vision). Align your team to specific definitions of these. Below are AJC’s Definitions of Mission and Vision. How to define …
There are three basic ways to run a business that is a “going concern”– well, actually four – and any of them might be right for your organization. These are so fundamentally different in terms of growth, however, that the Leadership Team needs to be aligned before going any further in this process. True Innovation …
A nod to Organizational Development – before launching into further strategic preparations, it will be extremely helpful to ensure the Leadership Team has the right people in the right seats. These people are the strategic decision makers for major “thematic” work at the organization, and one or more of them will likely be designated as …
What does your organization truly care about? Your organization’s Core Values, those things that you really and truly care about, should be so foundational that you are willing to hire, coach, develop, and ultimately fire people based on how well they live them out. These values should speak to your “Why” – to borrow from …
