Dr. Jason’s Speak Life™ Newsletter – Volume 6 Issue 2
Inside This Issue
• Strengthening Your Organization
• Message from the President
• Strategic Planning
• Consulting Focus: Market Research
• Industry Perspectives
Strengthening Your Organization
Difficult times are when organizations and leaders are tested most rigorously. They must ensure that the organization remains financially viable despite negative conditions. You can emerge successfully from these times by being strategic in choices and priorities, making decisions when they need to be made, managing change carefully and maintaining open lines of communication. It is important to keep the top performers on board. Key strategies include communicating clearly to instill confidence, providing leadership opportunities, and looking to your employees for innovative ways to streamline work and maximize impact. Keep employees informed about the ongoing situation and how the organization is faring. You want to be realistic but positive so that employees do not fear the future. It is also vitally important that your key employees know how much you value their contributions. You want to prevent your top performers from even considering looking for other opportunities. Those organization that weather the storm, have the opportunity to use this time to become more efficient and effective and to position themselves for continued growth and success when the conditions rebound.
Message from the President
“You must be intentional in developing your specific niche”…
In developing your business or organization, it is imperative that the leadership sets SMART goals. SMART is an acronym for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-sensitive.
Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Relevant
Time-sensitive
A goal must be specific. Broad goals are moving targets, nearly impossible to hit. Secondly, a goal must be measurable. You must know when you have accomplished the goal and assess your progress along the way. Next, a goal must be achievable. An unrealistic goal will not motivate you to reach for it. Relevance is an essential component of a goal. It must relate to your desired outcome. Finally, a goal must be time-sensitive. You should be able to say by an affixed time, this goal should be achieved. Remember, you must be intentional in developing your specific niche, and this requires setting SMART goals.
Strategic Planning
No doubt, you have heard the phrase, “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail”. While this may seem like a trite statement, it contains a great deal of verity. Planning is such a major element in the success of your enterprise. Planning must occur at all levels of an organization. Without effective planning, you are setting your business up for an inevitable collapse. Goals are not achievable without plans. Effective strategic planning articulates not only where an organization is going and the actions needed to make progress, but also how it will know if it is successful. As an organization, you must focus on your future.
Consulting Focus: Market Research
Market research is the systematic process of gathering and interpreting information regarding markets or customers. It is critical to a business’ success. As a business leader, market research will guide you in making strategic business decisions, uncovering unmet customer needs, and help you identify opportunities.
There are several key factors to market research:
1) Local competition – What other companies exist locally that provide similar products or services?
2) Global competition – In our global economy, what other companies are targeting the same market?
3) Social Trends – What social changes are occurring in your target market that would affect your product success?
4) Government regulations – What governmental restraints affect the industry and/or target audience?
Once you know, you can keep what’s good, fix what’s wrong, and unlock great performance. You can then benchmark and evaluate your success.
Industry Perspectives
It is vastly important that the consulting industry recognizes the need for innovation in solving business problems. Your organization is faced with constant pressure to innovate. Growth opportunities are available for companies that develop and utilize innovative solutions to succeed in the current economic environment. Historically, it has been innovation that has translated into economic growth for U.S. businesses. Certain strategies that worked in the past are no longer relevant. Sustainable results that drive profits are essential, as well as proper controls. With the economic challenges businesses face today, a fresh look and a new perspective to solve old or emerging problems can make all the difference.