If you had the chance to time travel back to the beginning of 2020, would you?
We know you have heard the COVID-19 story before, and even more importantly you have lived through it for the past year and a half. It is no secret to you, or to anyone, that organizational priorities were scrambled – with the focus shifting from a proactive, strategic approach to just dealing with the struggles of the day-to-day.
In so many industries, things went from 0-100% unbelievably quickly, either through immense, uncontrolled growth, or stunted growth forcing organizations to make significant operational changes. Within all the chaos, a plethora of new challenges came to light in dealing with capacity, resourcing, supply chain management, turnover, and more.
If you could go back and do it over again, what might you have changed?
YOUR BUSINESS HAS FUNDAMENTALLY CHANGED
Now in August 2021, it seems you are finally able to come up for a bit of air and to truly take a step back and take inventory of the impact. One common theme that has been identified for all organizations, regardless of size or industry, is that the way you do business has changed.
See, the interesting thing is that when we are forced into “survival mode”, it forces us to think in innovative ways to stay in control. Organizations like yours are effectively reaching customers through channels they have never used before, fostering their company culture without being together, and making operational changes to long-standing, historic processes. In other words, your core business, or your fundamentals, have evolved.
THE MACRO DRIVERS OF YOUR BUSINESS
We can imagine you are probably thinking, “Yes – I know things have changed, I am aware of that, why does that matter?”.
The question we want you to ask yourself is “what have you done about it from a strategic standpoint?”
When was the last time you sat down as a team to talk about your strategy at the highest level?
Do your employees, especially anyone who has joined within the past year and a half, know how what they do on a day-to-day basis corresponds to the overall organizational mission, vision, core values, or strategic goals?
The business you were a year and a half ago is not the business you are today, and likely won’t be the business you are a year from now. However, this shift is probably not reflected in your strategy because you haven’t had the time to focus on it amid all the fires you have been putting out daily.
Now is the time for you to re-group, re-evaluate, and re-invigorate by going back to the fundamentals, or the core of your business – who you are, and what you do. By taking this step back, you will get everyone aligned and on the same page, setting your organization up to travel forward to future success.
FIVE FUNDAMENTAL STEPS TO STRATEGIC SUCCESS:
1. Review your Mission, Vision, and Core Values
Is this still who you are as a company? If not, what has changed? Who are you now? Take the time to socialize the content – does it resonate with internal stakeholders?
2. Establish Your Key Goals and Outcomes
Is this still who you are as a Establish a finite number of Key Goals – statements of macro-level, long term organizational objectives. Answer the question, what accomplishments will define our success? Which outcomes do you need to see to achieve those goals?
3. Identify Your Core Processes
Which processes drive your business? Have you considered all the different forms of processes including operating, supporting, and sub-processes?
4. Establish Your Measures
Which quantifiable indicators will you use to measure your progress? What will show you that you are doing your routine work well day-to-day – leading measures? What will gauge your progress toward your key goals – lagging measures?
5. Create Accountability
Who is responsible for monitoring these outcomes and processes? Establish internal process and outcome owners to create open communication, clear visibility, and accountability.
THE KEY TO CONTINUITY
Understanding your strategy is the first step of the journey, operationalizing and managing it becomes the next hurdle. At Online, we are advocates for formal enterprise performance management processes as a means of ensuring strategic and alignment efforts are managed and maintained over time. Additionally, by implementing software or other tools to keep your efforts front of mind, you will be able to keep people accountable and keep your finger on the pulse.
FUNDAMENTALS + STRATEGY = RESULTS
In the year 2021, we have yet to discover how to time travel, but in the world of business, why would we even want to go back in time? It is time to take the innovation you have shown in the past year and a half into stride and to re-group, re-evaluate, and re-invigorate your strategy.
Your core business has changed, and now more than ever your strategy should reflect that. Take the step back, go back to the fundamentals, and get everyone on the same page as you move into the next era of future business.
Aaron Howard
Chief Executive Officer