Developing a focused strategy
Pareto’s Principle tells us that in any given situation c. 80% of outputs are driven by c. 20% of inputs. For us, this means finding and prioritising the key drivers of your performance that make the most difference to your business results. If we can do this, it means we can achieve a much greater return on your investment in time and capital.
So we begin by working closely with you to assess opportunities to improve strategic focus and business performance. This typically includes:
- Understanding explicit and hidden needs of key customer segments, and how well you serve them
- Understanding key factors for success, and how well you meet them
- Analysis of your business model & financial performance to determine key areas of profitability / areas of concern
- Interviews and workshops with key members of your organisation to gather business improvement ideas and to reach consensus on the areas of most potential for improvement
- Developing ideas on how to compete differently (e.g. value innovation)
The outcome of this phase is an outline business case to refocus strategy on key areas of greatest profitability, with indicative potential benefits (e.g. cost reduction, revenue growth) that can be used to justify investment in taking the process to the next phase.
Creating a lean operating model to deliver the strategy
In the second phase, we use lean principles to understand in greater depth how your current business model performs and where the key areas of waste and under-performance are. This typically includes diagnostic tools like:
- Process / value flow mapping
- “Day in the life of” analysis for members of your team (plus potentially customers and partners)
- Focus interviews and workshops with key members of staff
- Financial analysis on where the value / non-value adding activities are
We then work with members of your team to create a “to-be” lean operating model that is fine-tuned to deliver your new strategic focus in the most cost-effective way. Wherever possible, we will conduct a trial of the new operating model in a well-defined part of your business to prove that it delivers the promised level of performance.
The final step in phase 2 is to understand the implications for changing to the new operating model, and what this means for implementation and change management.
The outcome of this phase is a confirmed business case to refocus strategy on key areas of greatest profitability, with quantified potential benefits (e.g. cost reduction, revenue growth) that can be used to justify investment in implementation.
Managing the change / transition successfully
In the final phase, we work side by side with you to implement the new operating model, provide change management support and monitor that the benefits promised are indeed delivered. Typically, this includes:
- Designing and managing a communications programme with key stakeholders to win hearts and minds
- Introducing performance management tools & processes (such as balanced scorecards, financial benefits tracking templates)
- Managing conflict and resistance
- Ensuring that the key areas of performance improvement are followed through
The outcome of this phase is confirmed delivery of the targeted level of performance and business benefits.