The Strategic Roadmap helps companies assure that they are working on the right projects; spending their hard-earned improvement dollars on the right improvement projects for the right reasons and with the right resources. It answers all of the What, How, When, and Why questions. Once the initial Roadmap is complete, we work with you to implement changes and assist in the ongoing (re)planning process.
SGC uses a collaborative decision process to make better, risk-informed strategic and tactical decision-making. With this process, organizations can make decisions with confidence to prioritize objectives, choose one alternative, or allocate resources to a portfolio of alternatives. We do this by combining hard operational data with team experience to secure faster and better decision outcomes while fostering greater stakeholder collaboration and buy-in. Measures are ratio scale, so results are much more accurate than mere spreadsheet rankings or ordinal measures.
Alignment
- Increased focus on aligning outcomes to strategic goals/objectives
- Structured approach for measuring alignment
- Ability to synthesize both intuition and hard data
Buy-In
- Sense of ownership through stakeholder involvement
- Leverage subject matter experts at an appropriate level
- Measure ROI and risk with a process that improves accountability
Conclusions
- Communicate plans and results
- Allocate resources to activities and projects
- Move you through the illusion of agreement and the impasse of disagreement
Dynamic
- Collect and track team decision inputs
- Compare results across groups, roles, cohorts
- See the impact of results by scenario or time period
Critical Success Factors
There are critical success factors, as with every endeavor or journey; here are the vital few:
- Commit to personal and corporate honesty
- Employ a strategic advisor
- Use a structured Strategic Roadmap approach
- Continually analyze and (re)plan
- Employ an external implementation firm who will work with your team to deliver results
Start Now
- Know Where You Are
First, take an honest look at where you and your company are today to truly “know thyself.” It is not easy. Like most, you are probably not where you think you are and the path you currently travel may not be the road you think you are on. That is OK. Enlist a strategic advisor able to help you make an honest assessment of both external factors and internal capabilities. These external and internal considerations are unique to your business and markets, and considering that the evaluation is a foundation for all that follows, the assessment must be accurate and complete.
- Define the Destination
The second step is to determine your potential destination(s), and the way-points on the journey; yes, it is a journey. You must explore multiple destinations and way-point options. Once identified, create a sound business case for each, leading to a down-select of the best few. Market and internal changes along the way may indicate a need to adjust.
- Create a Plan of Action
Third, what do you have and what do you need to move from here to there. As Goldsmith’s book is titled; “What got you here, won’t get you there.” The strategic road-map must include all of the gaps and how to fill them; perhaps an alliance partnership, an investment, or an organization change, or, more likely, a combination of changes.
The right strategic plan makes all the difference. It is a continual analysis and (re)planning as the business changes and grows. Once set, consult the Roadmap for turn-by-turn directions based on traffic and road conditions, rerouting as necessary to reach your objective.
For more information on how to get started with your Strategic Roadmap process, or for support during your strategic planning, contact us here for a complimentary consultation.
