The Operational Excellence Manager was sitting behind his desk on a rainy fall afternoon.
The summer had come to an end; however, he felt excited like it was early spring after a harsh winter.
It felt like spring cleaning because he was organizing an alignment of mission and objectives for the organization, starting at the top.
This time of year, he traditionally started to plan for a two-day strategy session with the leadership team of his company.
He remembered the first time organizing this event which had shaped the direction of the company.
The event was called the Mission Workshop, and it started with a brainstorm session on vision for the coming three to six years.
Defining the value proposition towards customers and the impact of macroeconomics and geopolitical events provide a high-level picture on which the next 12-18 months (the Mission) can be derived.
Knowing what needs to be done provides clarity, however for a successful mission it needs to be mapped against the organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.
The first year these were the deliverables after a day, and a half and the remainder of the second day was spent defining coming years objectives for the main organizational units involved.
Building on a defined Vision and Mission helped tremendously moving forward. The most powerful tool that was added to the agenda was strategy deployment by exercising Hoshin Kanri (X-Matrix) to align strategy and objectives.
This year the strategy sessions would still be two days: On the first day with the leadership team to conclude with an updated Value Proposition, SWOT, Vision & Mission, high level X-Matrix defined.
The second day was a full day of sharing these freshly updated outputs with the representatives of the organizational units and building the next level(s) of the X-matrix towards departmental levels.
The priorities and projects listed in the X-matrix would become the departmental and shop floor objectives for the next 12-18 months.
Daily Management, Scorecards and A3’s were just a few of the tools in tracking and managing these initiatives.
He looked at his notes one more time:
Organizing a Mission Workshop/Strategy Session
Defining Value for the Customer: Understand what we promise and offer to our customers. This involves answering questions like, "What's in it for the customer?" and "What experience can we deliver?". The mission statement should convey the core idea of what the company does, and the valuable, day-to-day activities performed to achieve its vision.
Perform a SWOT Analysis: A SWOT analysis is a collaborative process that identifies an organization's internal strengths and weaknesses and external opportunities and threats. It is recommended to assemble a diverse team from different departments to get a comprehensive view. The process involves brainstorming and listing strengths (e.g., unique resources, strong brand), weaknesses (e.g., lack of skills, inefficient processes), opportunities (e.g., market trends, new customer segments), and threats (e.g., competitors, regulatory changes). After generating the lists, participants should prioritize the most impactful items, then use the analysis to inform strategic decisions and create an action plan.
Reviewing and Updating Vision and Mission: Vision and mission statements should be revisited periodically based on the updated insights from the value proposition and SWOT.
Strategy Deployment: Strategy deployment, also known as Hoshin Kanri, is a process for translating a vision and mission into actionable implementation plans. It helps an organization align around a few key priorities rather than spreading resources too thin. The process involves establishing values, vision, and mission, then developing strategic plans and objectives. The "catch ball" process, which involves feedback between different levels of the organization, ensures that breakthrough priorities from a higher level are cascaded down into action plans for lower levels. A disciplined review process is essential to track progress and ensure the strategy is being implemented effectively.
The notes helped him explain the purpose of the Strategy Session event as he created the calendar invitation of what he considered two of the most important and valuable days of the year for the company.