Review your strategy right now makes the most sense

It seems strange to try to review your strategy in the middle of the most disruptive time in the last 40 or so years, yet now is exactly the time.

Understandably, most leaders have been in reactive mode following COVID-19, yet there have already been many changes to how we work and live, with a recent study suggesting only 9% of us want to go back to ‘normal’ once lockdown is lifted.

Shaun O’Hara, one of our People Directors, explains: “now is the time to get really clear about how the changes in the market have impacted your strategy. Getting the top team together and reassessing how you’ll win in terms of revenue and profit drivers is your priority. With that clear it’s all about working through the required shape of your organisation and how you get the team fully inspired to execute the revised strategy.”

Now it’s time to get proactive and plan for future success, against an holistic set of goals that will help your business not only survive, but improve and grow.

How do to it

Conducting a strategic review of the business and build a plan for future success isn’t always easy on your own. Getting in a trained facilitator to keep you focussed and to challenge the way you have been doing things will add a huge amount of value.

You will need your senior leadership team, or the people you most trust to think about the future, together on a video conference for a good amount of time.

What you are looking to achieve

If you can end up with written agreement on these issues you will be off to a great start:

• Strategy: we’ll set out how we’ll win in our market over the next 2-5 years
• Leadership: we’ll define what sort of leaders we need to be and how we get there
• Culture: we’ll establish what new ways of working underpin future success
• Structure: we’ll define the structure, roles and processes needed to take us forwards
• Talent: we’ll plan the resources we need now and in the future to achieve the strategy
• Process: we’ll be clear on new people policies and processes that underpin all the above

The linked articles in Forbes, and from McKinsey will help to prepare your thinking for the exercise.

If you don’t bother

If you don’t spend time reviewing your strategy, you are in danger of returning to exactly the same ways of working, in a world and economy that has shifted significantly. You don’t have to look much further than the example of Kodak back in 2012. They were so dazzled by previous success they didn’t give enough attention to the digitalisation of photography. Instead of recognising changing needs of the world around them, they continued to do what they had always done, and ended up bankrupt.

If you haven’t undertaken a strategic review of your business in the last month, now is the time.

If you’d like any help or support, please do give us a call. Our team of part-time People Directors are keen to help, so please do get in touch with us if you are looking for answers and support [email protected] or call 0808 164 5826.