Roadmaps and Strategic Planning - Overhaul to Rebuild to Reorganize

In the past few weeks, one of the things I have been working on is the rebuilding of roadmaps for some organizations. Two medical organizations, three engineering firms, and one transportation firm.

 

What is common between all of them?

 

1. a mixture of legacy and new systems that need a new path forward

2. a potential need for cyber awareness training and prevention

3. an issue with morale and workplace staleness that needs addressing

 

some of the issues are easy; mostly equipment and tools, methods and processes, and materials of a new nature; those are part of the present budget yet with a twist. why re-invest in legacy when one can safely and quickly invest in future platforms. others are more emotional, human factors, and what its like to be in a stale or dead end situation. some of the morale issues are either due to the mundane to mediocre nature of the work and job and their is no resolve or resolution, and others is just about potential churn and knowledge transfer and gap needs.

 

what does one do? well, have a plan and make sure it's half right and half needing oversight and confirmation. no plan is without issues and challenges. if it were, maybe no planning experts would be required. for some, the leadership and key people are all that is necessary.

 

so, what would be the steps required to address all of these needs?

 

1. look at the existing roadmap (if exists), and use the best of many frameworks that apply

2. re-share it with all and see if it makes sense, still

3. start to warm folks up on change is coming

4. look at the complaints, that are real and validate them

5. plan for the gap to be removed

6. look for hold backs and those resisting things and overcome

7. show the before, during and after plan in the reorganization with metrics, time, goals, end results

8. remember, change is not necessary for the sake of change

9. Rebuild, Re-organize and Refresh all the key elements for success

10. don't lose sight of the vision, mission and hope that everyone wants as you go along and bend and deviate as necessary yet be surprised if something even better happens along the way.

 

Now! Get started and just let everyone know; here we are, and we are going to be over there by such and such date, and all in agreement, let's go, and those not wanting to be involved, stage right or stage left exit please.

 

Remember, a positive attitude and communication, even if a little broken and rusty, can help. Find the winners and bring them along, and the losers....

 

Note to HR from management --- Well, like I told my HR directors in the past, let's focus 80% of our energy on those wanting to improve and 20% of those needing a little help; whereas, HR use to direct/tell me to spend 80% of my energy on the challengers and 20% on the winners. When I got the balls, I negated HR and reminded them management was in charge, and HR, though necessary and useful, does not run the company. They are responsible for policing the issues and helping with protecting the company and organization. HR does not control the situation. Regardless of your experience, remember, HR cannot hire or fire anyone, it's managements job to authorize doing so; so on and so forth. ;-) grin, out-source HR, or in-source HR. Its up to you, both during growth and re-organizations; your roadmap is to determine which services are core versus non-essential.

 

To that end, I was able to have and teach HR at a major fortune 100 company to reverse their psychology and say, you know what, we need to work with winners, and if those that just want attention and need to be babied don't grow up, they can either join in or stay off the playground. (grin). its the ole adage, if you don't want to play along, stay off the playground. It works.

 

 

more to come...