The Development and Execution of Plans

Our workshops have been designed with a particular client need in mind. In all cases the existing design is then further tailored depending on the client’s sector/ industry; strategy, issues…

The Development & Execution of Plans – the need…
To “Develop and/or Execute Plans”

The development and implementation of plans is ongoing and core work in any organization. We have, modify and design processes to enable you to develop and deliver strategic, operational and action plans into your organization.

The Levels at which the process is facilitated

The detail with respect to outcomes, program, duration and so forth are dependent upon whether the process is being utilized for a Business Unit or Divisional or Departmental team. It can be run at any of the following levels:

  1. Whole Company/ Business Unit within Global Company – Developing Charter/ Governing Principles/ Strategic Intent (i.e. Vision, Mission, Stakeholder Value Propositions, Strategic Issues and Plans to Address them!)
  2. Whole Site/ Division/ Operating Unit/ Channel – Developing Strategy and Strategic Plans (i.e. Catch Cry, Stakeholder Value Propositions, Strategic Issues and Plans to address them!)
  3. Whole Function/ Department/ mutually recognizable unit – Developing 3-Year Plans (i.e. Catch Cry, Stakeholder Value Propositions, Strategic Issues and Plans to Address them!)
  4. Separate Workshops and processes are available for ’12-Month Action Planning’ and ‘Quarterly Planning’ for Output Teams and Crews within those teams

In agreeing with clients on the specific requirements we will introduce them to and draw on Stratified Systems Theory (Jaques, E) to ensure that any workshop that is subsequently run is done so in the context of:

  • An appropriate timeframe and
  • Addressing the appropriate themes of work

What are the deliverable outcomes to the client?

  • A PESTLL Analysis i.e. An articulation of the most likely Political, Economic, Social, Trade, Environmental, Legislative and Labor scenarios (5 – 10 years out) which will inform decision making and strategy implementation
  • A Vision & Mission Statement for the Company which is aligned to the CEO/Board’s Corporate Charter (Governing Principles) as well as a Code of Conduct & Set of People Principles
  • A succinct (2-4 word) ‘catch cry’ (The ‘catch cry’ articulates what has to become cultural so as to realize the Vision & Mission).
  • A list of Value Propositions for each relevant stakeholder group i.e. the Board, Customers, Employees, Suppliers, Community and Industry
  • A List of Strategic Issues and a snapshot of success for each one
  • A Strategic Issues (8 – 12) Grid in which all issues capability rated and priority ranked based on: The organization’s capability to manage the issues identified in terms of:
    • The organization’s structure
    • The organization’s systems
    • The capability of current staff and
    • The organization’s culture
  • A forced ranking of each issue against each of the other issues based on the resolution of whish is most likely to enable the organization to realize it’s Vision & Mission and deliver its value propositions to stakeholders
  • Four to six of the (8 – 12) issues fully developed into a 1st draft Project Plans, which can then be task assigned by the senior person to one of the Management Team members. These plans are typically in a detailed
  • GANTT or
  • PERT chart format and draw on our model of task assignment/ project scoping, SMART i.e. for each issue:
  • Situation or Context
  • Mission in terms of a snapshot of what successful management of the issue would result in as an outcome
  • Assessment Criteria
  • Resources required to manage the issue
  • Members, methods, machinery, materials, minutes & Money
  • Timeframe (in PERT or Gantt chart – what, by whom & by when)
  • A blueprint for developing the remaining issues into the ‘Project Plan’ stage
  • An articulation of the Management Team structure most conducive to realizing the strategy as well as revised Role Definitions for all roles in the idealized Executive Management Team and draft Structure/ Role Definition for each role one removed.
  • Prioritized list of the 10 most critical systems which need to be in place to realize the strategy as well as a clear identification of which roles are System Owner and which are Systems Custodian for each of the 10 systems
  • A Cultural Renewal Agenda prioritizing the 6 – 8 behaviors most fundamental at the top three tiers in the company to realizing the Strategic Intent.
  • A first draft of the 100 small things that can be done to achieve the Cultural Agenda
  • An identification of all relevant People Capacity (knowledge, skill and experience) gaps that need to be addressed for all key roles
  • A Bulletin to go out to the organization within 48 – 72 hours of the workshop concluding
  • Identification of core strengths and learning opportunities for each individual member present (Optional)
  • Recommended follow-up and cascading processes
    And
  • Full documentation of all Workshop outcomes delivered within 12 hours of workshop completion. This is in the form of a full report (usually 90 – 120 pages) as well as a Short Report (30 – 35 pages)

A Process Summary

Step One:

Articulate a PESTELL (Political, Environmental, Social, Trade & Industry, Economic, Labor and legislative) Scenario for the maximum time period relevant to the group – 5 years would seem appropriate in this instance

Step Two:

Articulate what the company intends to be in the form of a short, memorable, portable and transportable “Vision” and what it will need to ‘do’ to ‘be’ the Vision 5 years hence, a “Mission” if you will. As part of this articulate Value Propositions for Stakeholders in the form of what you want them to be saying about you five years out. (Any customer or community etc. surveys can then be structured around the value propositions)

Step Three:

Identify your BU’s Strategic Issues (i.e. the issues that you would have to get serious about addressing now if you are to still be in business 5 years out) and articulate a snapshot of success for each issue in the finalized list. (The Snapshot identifies the measurable outputs that will be evident i.e. outcomes not actions)

Step Four:

Capability Rating. Each issue is considered against current organizational capacity i.e. Structure, Systems, People Capability Profile, and Culture and scored between 0 (no significant capacity to address the challenges in the issue) and 5 (world class capacity to address the challenges in the issue).

Step Five:

Forced Ranking. Each issue is force ranked in priority against each other issue on the basis of a focus question.

Step Six:

The Issues are then plotted on a matrix of Maintenance Issues, Rumblers, Thrusters and Excellence Issues. There is a final validation and every issue is assigned to one team member to develop into a fully blown project scope.

Step Seven:

Four of the Issues are worked on in the real time of the workshop and project scopes are developed for these four.

Step Eight:

Each of the elements of organizational capacity is then scrutinized to address any weaknesses identified in the capacity ranking. (I.e. structures, systems, people capacity/ staffing and shared values/ style). The outcomes of this are idealized structures, draft role definitions, systems accountability matrices and so forth. These are built into the relevant project scopes.

Step Nine:

The Senior person and the Support Facilitator then retire to develop a Blueprint for the way ahead while the Lead facilitator and the group draft a Bulletin to go out to all relevant personnel under the name of the senior person.

Step Ten:

The session concludes and RAC prepare full and short reports documenting all discussion, outcomes and so forth for the client.

Participants

  • The leader and his or her natural team members

Workshop Delivery Requirements (People)

  • Team leader to spend 30 minutes at the front end setting context and reiterating the Project Scope
  • One facilitator to be provided by ourselves and one support facilitator to be provided by ourselves or the client (Our facilitator will be able to coach the internal support facilitator and no additional training is required for them)

Logistics

  • Duration – Two to five days depending on the level at which the process is facilitated i.e. ‘Strategic’ for whole company/ business unit; ‘operational’ for a site or division, ‘functional’ for a department/ function or ‘action’ planning for an output team/ crew
  • # of attendees -Whatever the size of the natural team is (typically ten to fourteen people)
  • Typical location or site – Off site training room/ hotel/ motel/ conference centre
  • Residential requirements – Residential is not essential but is strongly recommended

Resources

  • We also provide electronic copy of a modified Toolkit (workshop manual) to the client for printing as well as electronic copy of all handouts not appropriate for inclusion into the Toolkit
  • We also provide all workshop briefing sheets for activities

Venue Requirements

  • Whiteboard, data projector, DVD player & monitor &/or screen, butchers paper stands & stationery
  • Good cell/ mobile phone reception
  • Internet access accessibility in main room and all breakaways (wireless ideal)
  • Main U-shaped area as well as three fully equipped breakaways