Ten steps to help you survive and prosper from economic uncertainty

Ten steps to help you survive and prosper from economic uncertainty: using power of chaos for creativity and growth.

From Robert J Toogood, Senior Partner – Chaordic Solutions:

The world is changing faster than people are able to adapt to it … and if left unmanaged, this can result in organisational meltdown and ultimately, failure.

However, whilst this form of chaos brings uneasiness, it can also be used as a powerful catalyst for creativity and growth.

A few years ago, McKinsey published the results from a Global Survey into how companies make good decisions.  They highlighted several process steps that are strongly associated with good financial and operational outcomes.  In the survey, they asked executives from around the world about a specific capital or human-resources decision their companies made in the course of normal business.

The results emphasise the hard business benefits, such as increased profits and rapid implementation, of several decision-making disciplines – these include ensuring that people with the right skills and experience are included in decision making, making decisions based on transparent criteria and a robust fact base, and ensuring that the person who will be responsible for implementing a decision is involved in making that decision. Finally, although corporate politics sometimes seems to undermine strong decision making, some types of consensus-building and alliances apparently can help create good outcomes.

In the current economic climate, it is critical that organisations urgently review what they are doing and why they are doing it … to revalidate and review the relationship between their business strategy and tactical execution plans.  One approach that enables this to be easily achieved and meets the McKinsey criteria is a well-proven technique known as Project Portfolio Management (PPM). 

Using PPM you can re-prioritise the focus of your activities.  Obviously, this requires your business strategy to be current and up-to-date; if it is not, then this is a great opportunity to update it.  PPM enables you to maximise benefits from your project investments, because all activity is much more tightly aligned to your business strategy.  In doing this, the chaotic change associated with economic uncertainty can be brought back under control, by managing the inevitable ambiguity and complexity of the modern-day business environment with the use of effective communication.

Some projects may no longer be needed, so can be deferred or even cancelled.  However, other projects will still be needed to ensure the business can survive and emerge much more strongly from the dark months of economic uncertainty.  But none of this decision making should overlook the importance of compliance related activities that will still be needed and ideally already be embedded within the cultural veins of the organisation.

The following ten step check-list can be used to help you navigate through these challenging times and to refocus your activities for success. 

STEP 1:
Review and update your business strategy 

Is your strategy up-to-date and reflecting current business focus?  Make sure it is updated and owned by senior Management, and not by external consultants.  It should include tangible measures such as 10% more market share.  Use business investment not project related terminology.

STEP 2:
Communicate updated strategy and re-energise your business 

Does everyone know what they need to do within their own functional area to support your strategy and make it happen?  Ensure strong links between business strategy and tactical execution plans.  Rigorously and continually search out new value-adding opportunities for IT to add value to the business.

STEP 3:
Create inventory of your current projects and resources/capabilities 

What are all the different things you are working on and with what resources?  Make sure you include all resources associated with these projects including internal and external as well as chargeable and non-chargeable.

STEP 4:
Reconcile project inventory against your business strategy using selection criteria/priorities 

How do your current project activities relate to your updated business strategy, and in what way do they contribute towards this by adding value?  Be honest and ruthless.

STEP 5:
Make better tactical decisions using outcome from your reconciliation

Which of your projects should be cancelled, continued with, reintroduced or escalated?  Only proceed with projects that still add real value and enable the business to survive and grow.  Make sure the associated business cases are robust and well explained in terms that business ie non-IT people can understand.

STEP 6:
Prepare and implement your communication plan 

Does everyone know what you are now doing, and what is expected of them?  Use different approaches and media to ensure effective communication so that ambiguity and complexity are kept well under control.

STEP 7:
Enhance or set-up your Project Management Office (PMO)

How do you track the progress and activity of your projects?  Identify projects that need attention; see which projects have slowed down or haven’t had much work put into them. Are they still a priority? If not, reallocate resources and attention to more pressing needs.

STEP 8:
Refine your approach to project execution 

Do you build “collaborative capacity” through relationships, trust and knowledge exchange?  Intensify competition between internal teams.  Don’t cut back on meetings.  Meetings are more important than ever for brainstorming and firing up team members’ creativity.  Build new teams.  Business pull-backs are excellent times to pursue new ideas and projects and get them on the drawing board.  Don’t cut travel and insulate team members.  Get them out in the world and exposed to new thinking.  Encourage risk-taking.

STEP 9:
Embed PPM approach within your day-to-day business activities

Are you using PPM on a regular basis, and that resulting decisions/action are accurately focused on the real needs of your business?  If not, take steps to make sure PPM related processes are transparently integrated into day-to-day activities.

STEP 10:
Finally, keeps things in perspective! 

No matter what happens to the economy, there is going to be change, though it doesn’t have to be a traumatic process.  Most of these external changes are out of your control but we can always control our reaction and attitude to them.  Help your employees take ownership of their attitude and reaction to change.

If you would like to discuss any aspect of this topic in more detail or if you have any queries about what is needed … contact our Senior Partner, Robert J Toogood on +44 (0)1983 617241 or via email at robert_toogood@chaordicsolutions.co.uk to schedule a session, on a non-obligation and confidential basis.

More … http://www.chaordicsolutions.co.uk/services.html