I have recently aided several clients with policies for their organizations.  This work underscored that no matter what the situation, when there is a major crisis, leadership and communications are vital.  This article is about communications before, during and after a crisis situation. 

Oh, My Gosh!  No Phones!

You probably have a list of emergency phone numbers and contacts in your contingency plans. But what if both land lines and cell phones don’t work?  Do you have a method in your contingency plan that tells people where to get information when it is impossible to reach them?  For example, is there a centralized community bulletin board or community emergency disaster center in your area?  Or consider establishing an emergency internet site which even in time of non-emergency tells people what to do in case something occurs.

Remote Contacts and Storage Locations

That emergency contact list you have for all employees, does it list people who live with them or contacts in another area?  Consider asking for a contact that doesn’t live in the area in case the entire area is affected by a disaster.  

Double check to ensure all your information is stored in a safe place.  It is likely that if you have an emergency contact list off site – possibly at your home or at your HR manager’s home.  Sounds safe, but in the case of Katrina all the homes were destroyed also.  Think about storing a copy in a remote location or use a commercial vendor to store confidential data of site as a back-up.  A friend of mine is an HR VP for a company that was in the World Trade Center.  Fortunately, she had a copy of all their employee contacts in another state so she could readily get access to vital information.

Top of Mind Questions

The most important questions after finding out if family members are safe are all about leadership.  Things like…

Do I still have a job?   Will my benefits continue?    Where will I find temporary housing and what about school and day care?   How will I get paid if I am not in the immediate area?  How will my insurance claims be handled if I have to use out-of-network providers?  Can the Employee Assistance Program help me and how can I reach them?   And on and on.

How Can I Help?

Also anticipate the communication needs of employees who are not affected. They want to help, but need to know how to do so and what help is needed. Again the community disaster bulletin board or an emergency internet site can be very helpful.  

Of course, my hope is that no one ever has to deal with these concerns, but as the leaders of our organizations we have the obligation to be prepared. 

http://www.peakperformancecorp.com

http://www.joycefriel.blogspot.com

You all know the saying that any road will do as long as you don’t know where you are going.  And it is certainly true when it comes to achieving company goals.  If you don’t have stated goals, have them written down, well communicated, and measured, there is a very high probability you’ll never achieve them.  Thus, the importance of having a quantifiable, measurable, well-communicated strategic plan.

Roadmap

Strategic planning is like creating a map for an exciting journey.  A map helps keep you on course, but it isn’t so stringent that you can’t check out a side road along the way.  Each year in the fall I map out where I am, where I want to go, and how I want to get there.  During the year, my plan then becomes my guide as I make business decisions and come upon new opportunities.  It helps me decide if new opportunities and the choices I encounter will get me closer to my goals or are detours to be avoided.  It is critical to at least annually review your plan to accommodate new developments in technology, client requests, the economy, emerging trends, and your own interests.

Key Components

1. SWOT - The first step is to determine where you are by doing a SWOT analysis – identify your internal Strengths and Weaknesses and your external Opportunities and Threats.  Make a grid and fill in the blanks. Use two columns and two sections. Internally analyze human, financial, technological resources, culture, etc.  Externally examine the economy, political/regulatory, social/demographic, technology, competition, etc. 
2. Vision, Mission and Values - craft a short statement that quickly and easily describes your purpose (Mission) and your ultimate future (Vision).  Who are your clients/customers, what makes you different, how would your customers describe you, what do you offer, how are you unique, what will you be like tomorrow?  Here is a quick template to follow:  “The purpose of ABC Company is to _________________ so that the company and our stakeholders benefit from ____________________________.  This quickly states who you are, why you exist, and what benefits occur as a result of your business.  You can get clever later on, for now get it on paper.  Now list the guiding principles that underpin the behaviors you expect of your self and others in order to achieve results.  Trust, honestly, creative solutions, integrity, customer services, etc., are examples of guiding principle values. 
3. Objectives – identify the key objectives that have to be met in order to achieve your vision and mission and goals for the year.  State them in specific, quantifiable, measurable terms.  They need to be ambitious, but realistic.  Focus on “what not how”.  Your list will grow, but pare it down to the critical 4-5 most important items for advancing your business this year.
4. Action Planning – Now we’ll look at the “how”.  For each objective, create a detailed action plan of how you will meet this goal.  For each objective state:
   • Desired results – what needs to happen or what benefit will occur
   • Potential obstacles/barriers – what might stand in your way or prevent progress
   • Support – what resources, people, tools do you have or need
5. Implementation Process - what steps must be taken – indicate who will do what and by when. I do a quick monthly review to see what is on target, what is falling behind, what follow-up is needed, etc. This gives me a visual update and reminds me of my targets and how I am progressing.  
6. Evaluation and Measurement - how will you know you’ve successfully achieved the objectives (this is why each must be stated so it is specific, quantifiable and measurable). As you get more sophisticated, a set of balanced scorecard measure is an ideal way to track, measure, and communicate your progress, but for now just determine how each objective will be measured.

This seems like a lot of work, but if you’ll map out each objective you will have a clear picture of where you’re going, how to get there, and achieve your goals quicker since you’ll avoid unnecessary, costly detours.  

The simplicity of these steps and descriptions belie the difficulty of this task.  I have facilitated many senior management teams that struggle getting even the first two steps done.  However, if you set aside quiet time with your key colleagues and valued advisors, this need not be a monumental task.  Once you have it in place, the annual process of reviewing, revising and refreshing becomes not only much easier, but very beneficial.  You walk away from this exercise with a sense of direction and satisfaction about how you are going to achieve your business goals with the assurance of avoiding at least some unnecessary, costly detours. 

http://www.peakperformancecorp.com

http://www.joycefriel.blogspot.com

by: Joyce Friel, Peak Performance Consulting

“I just wanted to ask you, which way I ought to go?”   “Well, that depends on where you want to get to,” said the Cat.   “It really doesn’t matter…” said Alice.   “Then it really doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the Cat.                                                                                               

From Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

 A movie and a fairy tale both point out the importance of having a plan.   Just like Alice in Wonderland I can’t tell you if a plane or train or an automobile is best for you until you tell me where you want to go.  If you want to get there from here, you gotta’ have a plan. 

 Where do YOU want to go?  Where Do You Want To Take Your Business?

I know as a business owner or manager you could describe to me what you want to achieve.  I also know that if you have a business loan, you likely have prepared a financial plan for your banker.  Great!  You’ve had to think through your financial goals, your needs and how you plan to repay that loan. 

This is a good start, but what about all the other aspects of your business.  Finances are one very critical piece of business success, but they are only one piece and your financial goals will never be achieved if you don’t also think about and plan for all the aspects of your business that support achieving financial success.  What about your marketing plan? Sales Plan? Employee Development and Satisfaction?  Stakeholder Satisfaction?

It is just amazing how many businesses do not have a comprehensive strategic plan and then they wonder someplace down the road why they aren’t able to achieve their goals.  (That’s when they call me in a panic!)  Much like Alice they often seek advise of which way to go, but haven’t determined where ‘there’ is or how they want to get there. 

So what are the benefits of having a strategic plan?    Simply put, a strategic plan…

• guides the decisions you make along the way
• becomes the yardstick for measuring progress
• is a communications vehicle for gaining support and commitment from your banker, employees and all other stakeholders
• allows you to keep in mind your goal while focusing the selection of informed choices along the way

But wouldn’t having a strategic plan mean I’ll be limited and have to follow it strictly?  No, it means you have a good guide and like any guide you can deviate from it as needed as you move along your journey toward your goal.  Just like driving across the city, you think you’ll take one route to your destination, but when you come upon a detour you deviate, but still keep the destination in mind.

http://www.peakperformancecorp.com

http://www.joycefriel.blogspot.com

by: Joyce Friel, Peak Performance Consulting

Yep, that’s right! You gotta’ give it away to get it back. Sounds kind of like reverse logic and it is in some ways, but many things in life compound themselves many fold only after you give them away.

• Love
• Trust
• Friendship
• Wisdom
• Knowledge
• Service

These and many more things must be given away before you get them back!

Ever notice when you smile at someone they generally smile back. When you speak first, the recipient responds. When you do a kindly deed, one will come back to you. I have a good friend, Silver Rose, who speaks on the Law of Attraction and another friend, Arlene Rosenberg, who develops leading achievers based on this same principle. You get what you focus on. So when we give love, trust others, bestow friendship, share wisdom, share our knowledge, and provide service it comes right back like a boomerang.

I use this same strategy to grow my business. I’ll bet it would work for you too, but you have to be willing to ‘give before you get’. Let me give you an example of giving away $10,000 dollars in service to a client in order to get back monthly billing for the last 7 years. I had a break even point in four months. Would you make that kind of investment?

A few years ago, I decided the best way I could grow my business was by meeting members of Boards of Directors. My logic was they were the kind of people who owned businesses and could afford to hire me. So I volunteered to design and facilitate the Board retreats for a major employer in our area. I knew I’d have to give away service, but I hoped in return I would meet potential clients and be able to influence their decision to use my services. After several conversations with the President of the organization, it was clear there was long-term interest in using my services not for the Board, but for the organization it governed. I am still working with this client and they provide me wonderful referrals to other potential clients.

I just did it again. I just offered pro bono services too one of the clients they referred me to. Yet again, I believe if I give it away, I’ll get it back. I can’t be a philanthropist of money, but I can be a philanthropist of talent and service and, sure enough, I get paid back in friendship, a larger, richer community, and growth of my business.

What I focus on is identifying who are good prospects. Who are the business leaders who believe in returning value for value given? Who believes in the law of attraction and have something I need in return.

Try it! I guarantee the more you give away wisdom, friendship, love, trust, knowledge and service you will most assuredly get it back.

http://www.peakperformancecorp.com
http://www.joycefriel.blogspot.com

An effective strategic plan considers both the beginning (why are we here? what is our purpose?) and the end (were we successful?).  Strategic planning is more than PDCA (plan-do-check-act) but it is a comprehensive feedback cycle that must be actively monitored.  Consider the following steps;

Mission – why we exist

Core Values – what we believe in

Vision – what we want to be

Strategy – our game plan

Balanced Scorecard – implementation and focus

Strategic Initiatives – what we need to do

Personal Objectives – what I need to do