Repointing your strategy

Kosta Nicolaou
August 17, 2020

–A guide to taking the lead in a changed world by applying SPARC-

In what has been a challenging and unprecedented year for leaders of organisations across all sectors: governments, health services, education and the private sector alike, the question at the forefront of everybody’s mind is how do we simply survive and ride through the short-term impacts of not only health challenges faced by millions but a shuttering economy. At the same time, leaders must look forward; we are assessing our position, repairing what has been broken, rethinking our strategy and rebuilding the future.

As the new normal shifts and the definition of what is essential recoils in people’s minds our mission as leaders is to create organisational shifts in order to keep moving with the current times and remain relatively essential. In uncertain times the natural human action can often be inaction but as leaders we must in fact do the opposite to reduce our risks and keep ahead of our competitors.

New Consumer behavior calls for a new kind of thinking and action. By investing in digital transformation, knowing what to hold, managing in shorter increments we can plan for operational resilience. By adapting within our business we can change the way we operate or function in an effort to keep up with changing market conditions or shifting environment factors. Organisations that adapt are more likely to to rebuild successfully for the long-term.

In order to Repair, we must first establish an overview of how we are actually performing and understand the impacts. It is important that we focus on all aspects of our business beyond only the financial numbers. While comparing annual financial results will give you a snapshot of how sales, profits, capital and cash flow have been impacted it will not factor in changes to workforce, any shifts in customer base and social demand and regulation reform and compliance factors.

Depending on your findings it will be safe to assume that some or all aspects of your organisation will require a repair strategy, although some organisations may find that they emerge in a relatively good position to take advantage of new opportunities. As a leader this is where clear decision making and decisive action based upon a real understanding of what is essential could be key to your success.

Rethink although a largely conceptual phase starts with the practicalities assessed in your business repair snapshot. As we rethink we stratergise our game plan and develop what will become the framework for all decision making required for repair efforts. As we rethink Leaders must not only consider the real time factors but more so reimagine the future on a practical and a conceptual level. We need to challenge ourselves to be strategic by adapting a strategy for what the new world will look like at a time where we are mostly consumed by crisis management, risk mitigation and trying to cope with putting out the spot fires that arise in the day-to-day. Organisations of all shapes and sizes, Governments, Education and Health Services will find themselves positioned very differently as a result of this crisis and as a result will need competitive and collaborative strategies that are dramatically different from those that we may have originally imagined only a short time ago.

You will find that a variety of organisations in both private and public sectors, including childcare centres, schools, healthcare services may even need to Restart in a changed world. The realisation that a business must undertake a restart can happen at any point in the repair–rethink–reconfigure process. In a restart you should follow the steps of beginning a new business; designing the business plan, finding startup capital, defining a strategy, establishing operations, refining your offer and product, and building a brand. When restarting leaders should do so with a level of foresight and planning that will provide your new organisation with a level of agility and resilience to the unknown factors that could arise.

As we put back together all facets of our organisation that we have broken down, scrutinised, analysed and reimagined we start to Reconfigure. To properly reconfigure we must rethink our technology strategy, geographic footprints, and business models to make them more robust and geared toward localisation. We need to start thinking more strategically about technology, digital capabilities and what they can bring to our organisation. We have been thrown into the new digital world which means that there is a level of strategic structure required to work this to your advantage. As leaders we must apply a level of strategic thinking around where the best opportunities lie to deliver lasting business value, positive customer experience and employee satisfaction. Organisations that find themselves not geared toward a platform-based economy in which business transactions and social activity are largely facilitated by digital platforms or frameworks will need to take action to ready themselves quickly. In the current environment you will find that reconfiguration may see you jumping on the trends that have suddenly gained currency but note that we aim to approach these movements systematically as an ad hoc approach could see your strategy turn reactive rather than adaptive.

Doing everything at once may not be realistic but by applying the skefto SPARC methodology to your strategic plan you can collaboratively Strategise by setting themes, goals, objectives and metrics. Undertake high level resource planning and assign individual and team responsibilities with strategy, planning and KPI software.

Plan by defining actions, initiatives and key performance indicators required for plan execution and monitoring. Assign granular individual and team responsibilities, set implementation timeframes and schedule review cycles.

Take Action by swiftly transitioning from planning through to execution. Drive successful plan implementation with real time collaboration, information sharing, event based alerts, effective resource management, action management and KPI tracking.

Review and provide regular updates to stakeholders by periodically updating and reviewing the performance of plans, objectives, actions and KPIs. Visualise performance and adjust on the fly based on a real-time result data and KPI dashboard.

Communicate, analyse and broadcast plan and performance data to stakeholders through reports, visualisations and dashboards.

By applying the SPARC methodology you can not only give structure to what could feel like a huge and daunting task but also provide a level of stability and direction to your workforce that can really grow into a positive momentum.

When repointing your strategy it is important to collaborate, communicate and share within your organisation. You cannot rebuild alone, engage your team, set timelines and track your progress to ensure that your new strategy has the best possible chance for success.

Find out more about how you can give your strategy a Sparc with skefto strategic planning software today.