Creating and Implementing Your Unique Business Hierarchy of Needs? - Level 1

The following section contains a workbook in the form of a checklist for the elements of the Business Hierarchy of Needs? so you can try it on your own. Before doing that, however, please read the entire book so you can properly articulate the implications of each element or set up some time with me to discuss this process. In table format, this checklist summarizes the things you should consider for each element and prompts you to summarize your responses for each one. You can get a Word version of this table and process at www.strategyrealized.com/resources.

Step 1: Read this section and begin filling out the information in the table below for your unique Business Hierarchy of Needs?. You will find that there are areas where you have questions, so you should go to the section in the book Strategy Realized - The Business Hierarchy of Needs to provide more detail.

Need Questions to Consider

Level 1

Mission

1. Do we have a mission statement?

2. Does it properly point all stakeholders in the direction we are going?

3. What is it missing if anything?

4. Does it reflect what we want to do in the future?

5. Who needs to know our vision statement and how do we share it?

Your Mission:

Vision

1. Does our vision statement give more clarity to our mission statement?

2. Does it give insight into our view of “Where to Play” and “How to Win”?

3. Who needs to know our vision statement and how do we share it?

Your Vision:

Values

1. What are the core values that will help our company achieve its objectives?

2. If we have core values, are they too fluffy?

3. How do we make our core values actionable and measurable?

Your Values

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Leadership Traits

1. Have we established Leadership Traits for people who manage/lead people?

2. Do they reflect the type of behaviors we want our leadership to exhibit via demonstrable phrases?

3. Do they reflect what we want our leadership to do in our future state?

List Expected Leadership Traits

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Customer Knowledge and Awareness

1. Do we satisfy our customer’s needs?

2. Do we understand their Most Important Goal?

3. How do we incorporate them into what we do?

4. How do we engage stakeholders to find out our customer needs?

5. Do we carefully consider internal and external customer needs?

Gaps In Knowledge and Awareness

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Value Proposition

1. What is our Value Proposition?

2. Does it truly reflect why customers are attracted to our products?

3. Do all stakeholders understand it?

4. Is it used as the litmus test for every product program, and does it drive marketing and sales strategies?

5. Is it effectively used in marketing and sales programs?

Your Value Proposition Statement:

Stakeholder Objectives

1. Do we understand the objectives of all our stakeholders - vendors, customers, owners, employees, contract labor, third party service providers?

2. Are their strategies coordinated with ours if they are a supplier and are our strategies coordinated with our customers and internal stakeholders?

3. If not, what do we need to do about aligning our stakeholders to our MIG and our strategies?

Your Key Stakeholder Objectives:

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Most Important Goal (MIG)

1. Do I/we believe that our MIG should be the driver for everything we do?

2. What is the MIG for our company? How do I/we create one?

3. Do we really understand the MIGs for suppliers, contract workers, and temporary workers? Are we acting on them?

4. How can I/we break down our MIG into actionable strategies?

Write a Definition Of Your Most Important Goal

Identify Financial Targets:

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“Where to Play” Have we defined target markets and channels of distribution to achieve our MIG?

List The Areas Where You Want To Play

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“How To Win”

1. Do we know the operating strategies to win?

2. Can we define how to implement them?

List The Business Levers You Will Use as the Basis of Your Strategies

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List Key Strategies For Winning

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Clearly Defined Business Strategies

1. What business issues are we facing?

2. Do we have business strategies that are fully aligned with our MIG and our Value Proposition?

3. Can they be fully executed?

4. Are they laid out in the “Where To Play” and “How To Win” format?

5. Did we include as much of the organization as possible in developing our strategies?

6. Is there a sponsor for each strategy that has agreed to be fully accountable to it?

List Strategies And Measures Tied To Your MIG

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Gap Analysis

1. What are our operating gaps?

2. What are our strategic gaps?

3. What are our organizational gaps?

4. Do we understand the impact of each category of gap on operating performance and strategic execution?

5. Can we create projects and programs that will close both operating and strategic gaps at the same time?

Identify And List Operating Gaps

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Identify And List Strategic Gaps

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KPIs

1. Do we have a set of Key Performance Indicators that we use as a scorecard to run our business? Are they tied to our MIG and business strategies?

2. Have we set up a management review process with a routine cadence?

3. How many KPIs do we need – How can we keep it simple?

4. Where will the data come from and how much are we willing to spend on getting it?

5. Does each stakeholder in the business have a performance KPI so we can tell how they are doing?

List The KPIs For Each Element That Contributes To The Implementation Of Your MIG

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Tactical Objectives

1. Are tactical objectives fully supportive of our MIG and associated strategies?

2. Have we spread the load across the organization via cross-functional teams?

3. Do we have a matrix of people and their responsibilities to make sure that no one person is overloaded?

4. Does each objective have a project charter with deliverables, timelines and expected ROI?

5. Do the project charters fully outline activities across impacted functions?

List Tactical Objectives for Each Strategy

1. You can use the Cascading Objectives worksheet at www.strategyrealized/resources for this section

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Goal Setting Throughout The Organization

1. Does every strategy and tactic have a measurable goal?

2. Are they supportive of each other and the MIG?

3. Were goals set in conjunction with the owner of that goal?

4. Do we have a method for tracking performance against these goals?

List Key Goals For Each Organization Tied To Each Strategy

1. You can use the Cascading Objectives worksheet at www.strategyrealized/resources for this section

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The Language Of Level 1

1. Does everyone on the team understand the language of Level 1?

2. What tools do we need to effectively complete this level?

3. How do we train our leaders on the utilization of these tools?

4. How do we find subject matter experts in these areas?

Identify The Tools You Need For Level 1 And Do An Inventory Of People Who Know How To Apply Them

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In next week's newsletter, we will discuss the needs of Level 2 for creating and implementing your unique Business Hierarchy of Needs.