As we continue to live with the Covid-19 pandemic and work with clients it has become increasingly apparent that there are some critical questions that every business executive and business owner should be asking themselves.
My team and I undertook a Strategic SnapShot© with regard to this subject and the following are the seven questions that we developed that we believe business executives and business owners should be asking themselves and their management teams right now.
- Consensus. How strong is the executive consensus in your organization regarding the current situation? Can you even measure it?
If your executive team were to be asked to list the critical concerns for the organization as a whole (not just their own unit), would their lists be in harmony? If you then asked them to weight their relative importance, would your team demonstrate the same view of priorities?
Rate how your organization is doing on a scale of 0 (could not be worse) to 10 (could not bet better).
Score (0-10): ______
- Focus on what is critical. Have you defined the critical success factors (CSFs) to thrive or survive (depending on your situation)?
Have you undertaken a structured analysis of the critical success factors for your organization to survive in the Covid-19 pandemic? Do you have measures of current, forecast and objective performance which give you understanding of the different views around the top table and a structured and weighted gap analysis that allows you to focus on those activities that will have the greatest impact.
Score (0 – 10): _____ -
Ideation. How well have you synthesized the collective wisdom of your organization to define the way forward?
Have you undertaken a systematic process to gather ideas of the leaders at all levels in your organization – managers and individual contributors? Has this been done in a numeric, quantified manner so that you REALLY understand differences of opinion in such a way that these differences can on the one hand be beneficially leveraged and on the other hand be recognized so that harmonization of thinking can occur?
Score (0 – 10): _____ -
Scenarios. Do you have clear scenarios for the next twelve months? Have you undertaken a systematic
process to gather ideas of the leaders at all levels in your organization – managers
and individual contributors?
Has this been done in a numeric,
quantified manner so that you REALLY understand differences of opinion in such
a way that these differences can on the one hand be beneficially leveraged and
on the other hand be recognized so that harmonization of thinking can occur?
Score (0 – 10): _____ -
Closing the gaps. Do you have resourced projects or plan actions to close the gaps?
Assuming that you have done the items above and have a clear view of the current competitive position of your organization do you have a clear measure of the gaps between your forecast position in three, six or twelve months and your objectives based on the above scenarios? Do you have a structured list of projects or plan actions to close these gaps with a view to in the first instance surviving and then thriving in the current economy?
Score (0 – 10): _____ -
Competitive landscape. How well defined is your current competitive landscape – in a manner that is incorporated in your plans?
Does your planning include a comprehensive analysis of your competitive landscape that includes an analysis of Shareholder Critical Success Factors, Core Objectives, Critical Customer Alienators, Market Attractiveness Factors, Market Critical Success Factors, Key Strengths, Critical Weaknesses, Key Opportunities, Critical Threats, etc. – weighted and scored so that you can narrow your focus so that only the high impact issues are addressed now?
Score (0 – 10): _____ -
Workforce engagement. Do you have clear plans for your workforce in order to adapt to the current reality? Many employees will be taking strain. Are you facing challenges such as stagnation (lack of engagement) that have been exacerbated by the Pandemic and need to be addressed? Do you have structured analysis of critical concerns regarding your workforce and plans to close any gaps that exist? Do you have numeric measures of the severity of the malaise that point towards constructive action to improve employee effectiveness, loyalty, morale, etc leading to improved productivity and profitability?
Score (0 – 10): _____
If you scored 47 (equivalent to 67%) or more, you are doing well. If you scored yourself less than 47 you should consider putting work into the areas where your scores are 6 or lower.
Click here to book a complimentary one on one Zoom call with me to discuss how we can assist you.
Yours sincerely,
Dr James Robertson
CEO and Principal Consultant