In these times of unprecedented change, many companies may find their strategies seriously outdated and in need of a refresh. Beyond the many short-term actions required to manage the current crisis, the medium and longer-term strategy needs to be reviewed in light of new market realities, new competitive dynamics and new financial imperatives. Target positions needs to be re-formulated. Strategic initiatives needs to be reviewed. Even though most companies have been struck by difficulties, as in all times of change there are also opportunities for those that are well positioned and ahead of the curve.
Here is a pragmatic 5 step process for how you may want to refresh your strategy and execution plan jointly with your team in a focused 4-12 week effort.
Step 0 - agree on the (new) time horizon:
In these extremely turbulent time, you want to be crystal clear on what the time horizon of your strategy can, and needs to be. The answer - that obviously will depend on your industry and market context - is not too short to miss out on market opportunities, but not too long to ensure that you are able to adapt to a rapidly changing environment. For example, you may want a 2-3 year strategic horizon, with a 5 year outlook accompanied by a next three quarter short-term plan.
Step 1 - agree on the (new) market context:
Analyse and agree on the new market realities across dimensions such as customer behaviour, market growth, competition, industry dynamics and technology evolution. No need to overdo it, simply focus on what has changed and is most important and ensure you are aligned in your team and leaders on critical aspects defining the new market context and realities.
Step 2 - agree on the (new) starting point:
Be brutally honest about the strengths and weaknesses of the business in relation to your competition. E.g. How are you perceived by your customers? How effective is your supply chain? How competitive are your business processes? What is your financial position compared to main competitors? Etc. Secondly, understand the trajectory and where the business will most likely end-up unless course corrected.
Step 3 - agree on the (new) target position:
In the defined time horizon, agree on a target position in relation to a set of well defined KPIs or OKRs or similar. Typically cuts across dimensions such as financial, customer, employee, competition etc. Are there weaknesses of the business that needs to be shored up? Are there critical enablers that needs to be accelerated such as automation, digitalisation etc? Again focus on the most important.
Step 4 - agree on (new) strategic initiatives:
Every strategy immediately needs to collapse into a set of clearly defined and agreed initiatives. It is important not end up with too many initiatives. Prioritisation is key. Categorising may be helpful. For example ”growth initiatives” which are market and customer oriented, "funding initiatives” which can include cost or efficiency measures, ”enabling initiatives” which can target processes and other supporting factors. Once agreed, define a plan for how to follow up and execute, and tie KPIs to individual incentives.
Step 5 - agree on the (new) financial plan:
Unless a strategy lifts the financials from the current trajectory, it is simply a waste of time or not working. Agree on a financial plan that lays out the metrices that are part of the business strategy and execution. Use it as a compass and an integral part of the strategy execution. You may find that you want to iterate step 3-5 at least two times to get it right.
How to get it done?
This 5 step process is not complicated, but requires some focus and hard work jointly in the team. Typically some 4-12 weeks of calendar time with a few workshops depending on scope, urgency, scheduling and work required between meetings etc.
It's easy enough to understand the need for a fit for purpose strategy, but it's also easy enough to get lost in the urgency of the short term crisis. Make sure that you have a strategy that is relevant for these new times and that the trajectory is leading you to where you want to go both in the short-, medium-, and long term.