Don’t try to solve everything at once.
Solve what matters most first!
Through your deep strategic analysis (internal and external), financial ratio analysis, and goal-setting, a plethora of issues emerged that you need to address. Let’s refer to these as “critical issues.”
These may include the following: an aging workforce and hiring challenges, some key customers buying less, not generating enough new prospects, how to use AI in different areas, what new equipment is needed, too much waste, rising sales with declining profit, losing too many customers, web-to-print isn’t generating more revenue, average revenue per job is declining, our social media marking is not generating prospects, too many customer complaints, not consistently delivering on-time, not enough employee training and development, production efficiency is lagging, cash is constrained by inventory and accounts receivables. And the list could go on and on. So… how do you handle an intimidating list of critical issues???
A research book I am reading points to an effective plan for addressing a long list of critical issues.[1] The author developed and validated their approach by working with multiple companies.
First, with your team, develop an extensive list of potential critical issues needing addressing. You will see “team” often in these steps. A team, with members whose thoughts are welcome and listened to, will generate more creative thinking than a single leader alone in a room. Also, it’s good for everyone to consider the question (what are our critical issues) before a meeting and then bring their thoughts to the table. That’s critical thinking! Make sure the list includes any potential critical issues. Write them down (log the points made in every step of this process and share those notes).
Second, again as a team, determine the top, most important, critical issues that need addressing. The author is big on limiting this list to three top critical issues, maybe five. This approach directs your team’s focus on THE most critical issues. Great strategy execution needs the right priorities. Following too many paths to the top of a mountain may not get you there, so find the ones that lead to the summit.
Third, together as a team, determine a strategic plan to address the most important critical issues. Meet regularly to assess progress and make necessary adjustments. And start this process all over again each year.
Again, a team approach is vital. Yes, a team approach brings more thinking power to the table. But also, when your team works together to develop a critical issue list, narrow it to the top three to five, develop a plan to address those critical issues, and monitor progress… they become UNITED, which is very powerful!
Dr. Ralph Williams
Management Professor
Jones College of Business
Middle Tennessee State University
[1] Neely, A. (Ed.). (2002). Business performance measurement: Theory and practice. Cambridge University Press.
