2020
10 Questions – Will Your Strategy Survive Post-pandemic Realities?
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10 Questions to Determine if Your Strategy Will Survive Post-pandemic Realities?
As individuals, many of us have been affected by the health and human impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. As business leaders, we face enormous challenges that were not on our radar only a few months ago. For some businesses, this, unfortunately, will mean the end of the line while others will thrive and create opportunities to differentiate and deliver even higher value to our customers.
Like most organizations, you likely did not have a backup strategic plan sitting in your desk with the title, “COVID-19 Strategic Plan, use only in case of emergency.” The fact is, even if you did, it might not be relevant as no one knew for sure, what the impacts on the human condition, the economy and accepted/legislated new behaviours were going to be. As our understanding becomes more apparent, businesses are forced to rethink their strategies for 2020 and beyond.
Answer the following questions on a scale of 1 (Not likely) to 10 (Absolutely):
- Will government regulations such as social distancing have any impact on your operations?
- Are you able to capitalize on your organization’s capabilities (internal) to address the new needs of existing and potential customers?
- Do your current talent management plans need to shift to effectively address the different emotional and physical needs of your employees?
- Do the leaders in your organization need to enhance leadership capabilities to genuinely connect with and inspire your teams through the functional and emotional changes they are experiencing?
- Will continued disruptions and changes in travel create a need for you to revisit how you engage your customers, suppliers and employees?
- Will the legitimization of remote work have an impact on your capital, facility and technology plans?
- Will shifts in thinking around the national sustainability of supply chains have an impact on your customers or value proposition?
- Will you need to change/update your approach to risk management/business continuity considering recent events?
- Will any of the recent changes (external) create a need for you to change your products or services to sustain the same high level of value to your customers?
- Do your current strategic initiatives have the same priority as they did before the outbreak?
If your total score was higher than 25, there would certainly be value in revisiting elements of your strategy.
If your total score was higher than 40, revisiting the overall strategy would be prudent at this time.
If your total score was higher than 70, challenge your team in the validity of this strategy and explore a more holistic strategic planning process.
To make intelligent strategic choices, you need to understand clearly where you sit and what your role is in the marketplace. Today’s strategic plan is your roadmap to tomorrow’s success, ensuring it is relevant is not optional if you plan to endure.
Your company’s performance is a direct result of its people’s behaviour, which in turn is a response to the environment in which you find yourself.
At Perspect, we focus on Executive Leadership Development and Strategic Deployment. If you have any questions about your score or would like a confidential sounding board as it relates to strategy or leadership, feel free to book a free consult here.
What other questions would you ask to assess the relevance of your current strategy?