When my copy of this long-awaited document finally arrived in the mail today, it was not anticlimactic. Well put together in a logical progression, it provides an effective complement to our individual and collective efforts in building growth & profits. What a nice painting of the picture Michael Makin and his folks accomplished in putting together a complete and comprehensive report.
I was honored to be a small part of a very distinguished group of contributors; such as Patrick Sweeney of Caliper; Steve Creasey of Bobst North America; & Bob Elliott of CPIA.
Since deadlines are well ahead of the publish date, these articles were written several weeks ago. In going through mine again, as part of the whole picture, it seemed to fit in well. The "must" of Planning, Committing, Leading, Organizing, and having the Courage to change, were mentioned by Michael in his introductory message.
Take some time to go through your issue; it should provide your team and you with some well thought-out information with which to finish the framing of your year.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Thursday, January 20, 2011
PIW Planning Seminar Content
The February 17th PIW Seminar on Planning may be the most useful day you’ve ever spent!
This will be an interactive day with lots of discussion. Bring your questions.
Here’s what will be covered:
Why plan? What are the benefits? Consequences of not Planning
Types of Planning: Informal, Tactical, Operational, Scenario, Strategic
How do you begin? The advantages of Budgeting & Forecasting Commitment from the top
Why involve others in the Process? Is the answer really in the room?
What is a Process anyway? What does it get us?
The role of a facilitator Advantages & Disadvantages Who should it be?
Should I hire a consultant? Advantages & Disadvantages
The importance of “Fierce Conversations” What are “Fierce Conservations?”
The value of questioning, opinions, & disagreement
Mission, Values, & Vision Definition of each What makes these so critical?
The invaluable 4 Quadrant discussion of customers & products
The 3 Value Disciplines of Market Leaders: Customer Intimate, Operational Excellence, & Product Leadership
Core Competencies How to discover them How to take advantage
Complete Outlines of each Strategic Planning Meeting What should be accomplished in each? How?
Can Planning time be shortened? How?
How to experience awesome meetings with complete buy-in What, and what not, to do
The importance of Focus & Niche How do we get focused? What are the advantages of Niche?
How is Competitive Advantage attained?
The Why & How of Internal Scanning Finding your sweet spot & building on it
Facing your weaknesses Moving away from them Shoring them up w/o spending excessive time and money
Questionnaires/Interviews/Tools to gathering information
External Scanning Looking at the marketplace, customers, controllable & uncontrollable factors
The P.E.S.T. Analysis Porters Five forces S.W.O.T. Analysis
Questionnaires/Interviews/Tools to gather information
Setting goals Goals should be S.M.A.R.T.E.R.
Developing Competitive Strategy Strategic Focus & Formulation to achieve goals
Action Planning Developing Objectives with Time Lines to support Achievement of Goals
Assigning “Champions” with ownership of responsibility What makes a “Champion?”
Importance of continued Commitment from Owner
HOW TO WRITE THE PLAN Developing your “authors” from within
Creating a viable Format The importance of an Executive Summary
Eliminating rhetoric & redundancy CREATING A PLAN YOU WILL USE
The priceless discussion/scribing, of time, people, core competencies, equipment, material, & technology
Implementation: Why does it fail all too often? Avoiding those pitfalls
Using your Champions to create a subculture of success
Details, Details, Details - making them fun, using the appropriate personality styles
Completion/Approval of Plan Celebratory Lunch
Communicating Plan to Employees Obtaining Company-wide buy-in as you do
Quarterly Evaluations Measuring, Monitoring, Deviations, Changes? Peer Circles to get it done
Whew, what a day? If you leave without some great insights, handouts (I have more than 30 of them ), & ideas, I’ll be amazed!
This will be an interactive day with lots of discussion. Bring your questions.
Here’s what will be covered:
Why plan? What are the benefits? Consequences of not Planning
Types of Planning: Informal, Tactical, Operational, Scenario, Strategic
How do you begin? The advantages of Budgeting & Forecasting Commitment from the top
Why involve others in the Process? Is the answer really in the room?
What is a Process anyway? What does it get us?
The role of a facilitator Advantages & Disadvantages Who should it be?
Should I hire a consultant? Advantages & Disadvantages
The importance of “Fierce Conversations” What are “Fierce Conservations?”
The value of questioning, opinions, & disagreement
Mission, Values, & Vision Definition of each What makes these so critical?
The invaluable 4 Quadrant discussion of customers & products
The 3 Value Disciplines of Market Leaders: Customer Intimate, Operational Excellence, & Product Leadership
Core Competencies How to discover them How to take advantage
Complete Outlines of each Strategic Planning Meeting What should be accomplished in each? How?
Can Planning time be shortened? How?
How to experience awesome meetings with complete buy-in What, and what not, to do
The importance of Focus & Niche How do we get focused? What are the advantages of Niche?
How is Competitive Advantage attained?
The Why & How of Internal Scanning Finding your sweet spot & building on it
Facing your weaknesses Moving away from them Shoring them up w/o spending excessive time and money
Questionnaires/Interviews/Tools to gathering information
External Scanning Looking at the marketplace, customers, controllable & uncontrollable factors
The P.E.S.T. Analysis Porters Five forces S.W.O.T. Analysis
Questionnaires/Interviews/Tools to gather information
Setting goals Goals should be S.M.A.R.T.E.R.
Developing Competitive Strategy Strategic Focus & Formulation to achieve goals
Action Planning Developing Objectives with Time Lines to support Achievement of Goals
Assigning “Champions” with ownership of responsibility What makes a “Champion?”
Importance of continued Commitment from Owner
HOW TO WRITE THE PLAN Developing your “authors” from within
Creating a viable Format The importance of an Executive Summary
Eliminating rhetoric & redundancy CREATING A PLAN YOU WILL USE
The priceless discussion/scribing, of time, people, core competencies, equipment, material, & technology
Implementation: Why does it fail all too often? Avoiding those pitfalls
Using your Champions to create a subculture of success
Details, Details, Details - making them fun, using the appropriate personality styles
Completion/Approval of Plan Celebratory Lunch
Communicating Plan to Employees Obtaining Company-wide buy-in as you do
Quarterly Evaluations Measuring, Monitoring, Deviations, Changes? Peer Circles to get it done
Whew, what a day? If you leave without some great insights, handouts (I have more than 30 of them ), & ideas, I’ll be amazed!
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Strategic Planning (SP) Step #2
The second gathering comes after three other tasks have been completed: Step #1, the discovery of your Mission, Values, and Vision (MVV's), and Team Selection. Please see those three other articles.
This as most of the Strategic Planning Team (SPT) gatherings is off site (keeps interruptions to a minimum), but near the company offices, for most of the day. This will allow for the members to spend some time, early and/or late, to cover operational responsibilities.
The President (P) begins with a strong commitment for SP from the top. A crucial step. P explains the why and what of the Planning effort. He/she reviews the Team Selection criteria, and why each was chosen. Next comes the "how", which points to the need for their sense of urgency, critical thinking, and contributions. Diversities of thought are valued, and in fact validate the Process. He/She is making their own sacrifice in allowing the Facilitator (F) to lead. Control is being sacrificed in order to achieve the greater good for all. It's all about "Fierce Conversations." See separate article.
F then briefly gives an overview of the Steps, complete with time line, and his/her style of being there for them. Next the findings of the group discovering the MVV's is reviewed and discussed for validity. Perceived inaccuracies are ironed out; conclusion is verified.
Finally an overview, as always, is given for the next Step, along with reading material needing study. Questions & answers will complete this first Team Step.
This as most of the Strategic Planning Team (SPT) gatherings is off site (keeps interruptions to a minimum), but near the company offices, for most of the day. This will allow for the members to spend some time, early and/or late, to cover operational responsibilities.
The President (P) begins with a strong commitment for SP from the top. A crucial step. P explains the why and what of the Planning effort. He/she reviews the Team Selection criteria, and why each was chosen. Next comes the "how", which points to the need for their sense of urgency, critical thinking, and contributions. Diversities of thought are valued, and in fact validate the Process. He/She is making their own sacrifice in allowing the Facilitator (F) to lead. Control is being sacrificed in order to achieve the greater good for all. It's all about "Fierce Conversations." See separate article.
F then briefly gives an overview of the Steps, complete with time line, and his/her style of being there for them. Next the findings of the group discovering the MVV's is reviewed and discussed for validity. Perceived inaccuracies are ironed out; conclusion is verified.
Finally an overview, as always, is given for the next Step, along with reading material needing study. Questions & answers will complete this first Team Step.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Step #1 Strategic Planning (SP)
As I'm preparing my material for giving an upcoming Planning Seminar for Printing Industries of Wisconsin (PIW),I realized I never wrote a blog or articles for the first two meetings of SP. Since I want to have handouts for all, I'll create them here.
Accordingly, here's what should take place, and why, It assumes you've made the decision to begin the Process, and that you've chosen a facilitator or hired a consultant.
The President/CEO (P) meets with the Facilitator/Consultant (F) to get the ball rolling. After settling the basics of engagement, (P) briefs (F) on the current situation of the company, including financials, strengths & weaknesses. Obviously the purpose/results desired will be discussed, as well as how SP will meet this need.
If the President is not familiar with, or hasn't done, formal planning previously, the depth of the interchange is increased. Time, resources such as people, machines, & money are brought into the mix such that (F) gets the picture being painted.
If there are unique individuals or Family-Owned issues, this is the time for them. In short, F should be given a crash course in looking at the company from an executive standpoint. Agreement should be reached on time line.
Next comes F's turn in discussing Team selection, and what type of person is needed. That person is not a stereotyped clone, but rather just the opposite. It's very critical for the team to be a diverse group of people in terms of background, personality style, and discipline. Please see the separate article on SPT Selection.
Provisions should be made at this time for discovering the company's Mission, Values, and Vision (MVV). The ideal time is between this first gathering & the second. F & P will meet with 4-6 people, probably not the Team members, to accomplish this. They will be longer standing employees from various departments that understand who the company is, where it's been, and where it's going. As with the SPT, F will be in charge, not P, for the same reasons.
Finally, something that permeates through all this communication is "Fierce Conversations" Please see separate article. It is extremely important that P embraces the approach that F uses.
There's a tremendous need for unanimity here, which makes this start crucial to success.
Accordingly, here's what should take place, and why, It assumes you've made the decision to begin the Process, and that you've chosen a facilitator or hired a consultant.
The President/CEO (P) meets with the Facilitator/Consultant (F) to get the ball rolling. After settling the basics of engagement, (P) briefs (F) on the current situation of the company, including financials, strengths & weaknesses. Obviously the purpose/results desired will be discussed, as well as how SP will meet this need.
If the President is not familiar with, or hasn't done, formal planning previously, the depth of the interchange is increased. Time, resources such as people, machines, & money are brought into the mix such that (F) gets the picture being painted.
If there are unique individuals or Family-Owned issues, this is the time for them. In short, F should be given a crash course in looking at the company from an executive standpoint. Agreement should be reached on time line.
Next comes F's turn in discussing Team selection, and what type of person is needed. That person is not a stereotyped clone, but rather just the opposite. It's very critical for the team to be a diverse group of people in terms of background, personality style, and discipline. Please see the separate article on SPT Selection.
Provisions should be made at this time for discovering the company's Mission, Values, and Vision (MVV). The ideal time is between this first gathering & the second. F & P will meet with 4-6 people, probably not the Team members, to accomplish this. They will be longer standing employees from various departments that understand who the company is, where it's been, and where it's going. As with the SPT, F will be in charge, not P, for the same reasons.
Finally, something that permeates through all this communication is "Fierce Conversations" Please see separate article. It is extremely important that P embraces the approach that F uses.
There's a tremendous need for unanimity here, which makes this start crucial to success.
Monday, January 3, 2011
Michael Makin & the Importance of Planning
As we printers all know, Michael, was here last month to help Printing Industries of Wisconsin celebrate our 75th Anniversary. Prior to the open house, Michael spoke to the member leadership regarding our future.
While he did not paint a rosy picture for everyone, there were some positives for those who were forward looking and Profit Leaders. Digital Print played a prominent part, as did our changing role of content providers. Certainly there are threats, but in them opportunities as well.
It was very interesting to me to hear him say, as he discussed forging our future, that planning was one of our collective weakest areas. From what I see day to day, I would agree, but after all, I'm a consultant & you might expect that. Still, Joe Lyman, Judi Wolters, and I had already agreed to put on a seminar on Planning in February. Fortuitous timing.
Later on, at the open house, I spoke with Michael about the upcoming seminar, and he was pleased, which was gratifying to hear.
Mark your calendars for February 17th.
In this interactive session, we will discuss several types of planning: informal, Strategic, Tactical, Operational, & Scenario. Resource availability, along with plenty of information & handouts will be provided. The goal is to stimulate creative ideas you can take back to your organization to foster growth & profitability.
Watch for another announcement to come from PIW next week. As always, feel free to contact me if you have further questions.
See you there!
While he did not paint a rosy picture for everyone, there were some positives for those who were forward looking and Profit Leaders. Digital Print played a prominent part, as did our changing role of content providers. Certainly there are threats, but in them opportunities as well.
It was very interesting to me to hear him say, as he discussed forging our future, that planning was one of our collective weakest areas. From what I see day to day, I would agree, but after all, I'm a consultant & you might expect that. Still, Joe Lyman, Judi Wolters, and I had already agreed to put on a seminar on Planning in February. Fortuitous timing.
Later on, at the open house, I spoke with Michael about the upcoming seminar, and he was pleased, which was gratifying to hear.
Mark your calendars for February 17th.
In this interactive session, we will discuss several types of planning: informal, Strategic, Tactical, Operational, & Scenario. Resource availability, along with plenty of information & handouts will be provided. The goal is to stimulate creative ideas you can take back to your organization to foster growth & profitability.
Watch for another announcement to come from PIW next week. As always, feel free to contact me if you have further questions.
See you there!
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