Now we have to decide what to focus on, and how to act: the Strategic Focus Areas and the Strategic Projects.

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STRATEGIC FOCUS AREAS EXERCISE:

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1. Have your strategic team separate into sub group and answer the following question:

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What do we need to do to reach the strategic objectives?

 

Limit each sub group's  list to a maximum of the 20 most important things.

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2. Bring the group together. Go around the room and each subgroup says out loud an item from their "to do" list. The rest of the groups will look at their list and spell out if they have any items that could be consolidated with the one under discussion. Rewrite the consolidated item in a place visible to all and mark how many teams had that item (or a similar one) in common. Go around the room until all lists have been discussed and consolidated into an aggregate list.

 

3. Take a last look at the list to ensure each item is self standing. Now try to group all the items into themes. For example (use your own based on the spirit of the items in your grouping):

 

     a. Human Resources Development - or Corporate Culture

     b. Revolutionizing Marketing and Sales 

     c. Revamp Operations

     d. Infrastructure

     e. Branding

     f. Technology

     g. Others

 

4. The major themes will now be the Strategic Focus Areas. Try to limit those areas to a number between 3 and 5. FOCUS!!!!

 

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BEFORE YOU CONTINUE, you might want to check the section on SCENARIO PLANNING.

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PROJECTS and ACTION PLANS EXERCISE

 

1. For each strategic focus areas, and considering first the items grouped above under each area (plus other options that might come up), identify which projects we should be working on during the next 12 to 18 months. Limit the total number of projects to between 6  to 15. 

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We want focus. Experience tells us that if you select too many projects, very little will be completed in 12 months. You will end up with many ON GOING projects, and very little impact. The recommendation here is VERY FEW HIGHLY IMPORTANT PROJECTS THAT WE CAN HAVE COMPLETED IN LESS THAN 12 months. What WILL happen is that if you focus on a few, before the end of the 12 months, you will have results, and will then have open capacity left to select the next projects to attack.

 

There might be some infrastructure type of projects that might be priority even thou their completion will take more than 18 months. In those cases you cannot delay but you will ensures solid deliverables within those next twelve months window. For example layouts finished, or financing acquired...

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2. For each project clearly assign:

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   a. Person responsible for project

 

   b. Between a minimum of 1 and a maximum of 3 MAJOR DELIVERABLES for each subsequent quarter until project ends. Ensure that each deliverable is both important and clearly spelled out, so it can be easily agreed that the deliverable was without any doubt completed as per the expectations of the project.

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   c. Start Date and End Date for Each Deliverable.

 

   d. Required budget (if project cannot be executed with currently budgeted resources). 

  

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