Business and Finance

Often during the process of strategy execution, the implementers start getting early feedback that the strategy is way off the mark. This feedback comes from the front lines : from employees, customers, suppliers, associates.

Given a bad strategy, a great execution will only speed up a business failure. What the implementers need is a mandate or a license to kill bad strategy without wasting precious resources and time. However there are reasons why a bad strategy is never shot down before it is too late .

1. Implementation is done by the lowly grunts or junior level managers and there is no process through which the ‘grunts’ or ‘hands and legs’ can communicate their feedback. Even if there are means to relay feedback , the feedback does not have the necessary credibility.

Continue reading ‘The Licence to to Kill a Bad Strategy’ »

ROI. ROI. ROI.
Everyone is asking for justification and what have you done for me lately. And, they’re correct.
Whether you are in-house or on the agency side, money is not freely flowing to just any old idea. You need to look at two key areas to sell your recommendation and ensure its success: Up-front planning, and borrowing from your experience or the experience of others.
Before establishing return on investment for any short- or long-term recommendation, proper up-front planning is key to success. An online colleague, Greg Brooks, once posted in a discussion group the below guideline for business and communication planning:
1. Mission: Reason for being; purpose
2. Goal: On-going behavioral target related to the mission.
3. Objective: Measurable step supporting the goal. Achieving an objective consumes resources.
4. Strategy: The approach chosen to achieve an objective; the set of activities or projects designed to achieve the objective.
5. Tactic: An activity or project that supports the strategy.
6. Task: A discrete, measurable step that is part of the tactic.
Continue reading ‘Proper Planning Key to Setting ROI Expectation’ »