Step 1: Status Quo
When developing a strategy, it is first essential to have a deep understanding of the previous strategy. If you bring in external experts for the further development of your strategy, it is therefore essential to inform them about previous strategy papers including action plans, roadmaps, milestone plans and the resource allocation and budget plans. Furthermore, a comparison of your status quo is useful in order to understand where your company is currently in the implementation process. In this way, you can also check which measures have already been successfully implemented and which milestones have been reached.
Step 2: Gathering requirements from customers
The customers must not be neglected in the development of the strategy, because they are ultimately to be convinced of the company and the products. A precise survey of customer requirements is important here. Questions such as “Have the requirements changed?” or “Are there new general conditions?” are essential here.
There are various ways of eliciting these requirements. These range from a pure document review, to an individual survey, to discussions/interviews with individual key players and joint workshops in larger groups. Which method is chosen depends on the resources available. Ultimately, however, the goal should always be to obtain a clear and up-to-date picture. This can then be compared with the status quo in order to develop an extended action plan including roadmap and milestones.
Step 3: Formulation of goals and measures
When developing goals, it is recommended to proceed according to the SMART principle. This means that the goals must meet the following criteria: They must be…
- specified,
- measurable,
- activating,
- realistic and
- scheduled
Measures must then be developed for the goals set in order to ensure that the goals are met. Furthermore, based on the defined goals and measures, it should be evaluated which resources are required at which points and how much budget should be planned accordingly.
How can CEYOND support you in strategy development?
Due to the many years of experience of our consultants, we are not only able to assess very well what contribution which measures can realistically make, but also whether they are the right ones to achieve the planned goals. The same applies to resource requirements and planned budgets.
For the development or further development of your strategy, close cooperation is essential for us at CEYOND. Because it is not only essential for the success of such a decision basis that it is logical and clearly argued, but that a decision can also be made and ultimately supported by the relevant stakeholders.
