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Facilitation
Using a professional facilitator at your board/executive meeting or offsite helps you go deeper into underlying issues for more efficient and effective decision-making, according to Warner B. Wims, President of WBW & Associates, LLC.
Using a professional facilitator will generate considerably more relevant and valid data than asking a member of the group to serve as the meeting moderator (or referee). Facilitators are skilled at helping groups to prioritize, ensuring that key outcomes are achieved in the time available. They also help balance the discussion styles of group members, ensuring that different ways of participating produce an outcome that considers the widest possible array of viewpoints. Professional facilitators also:
- Maximize consensus by objectively drawing out areas of mutual interest. As a result, more participants feel they have been involved in the decision, and therefore are more willing to support it.
- Increase the creative potential of the group, enhancing synergy so that the final meeting outcome is greater than the sum of its parts.
- Bring balance to underlying power and authority concerns so that these issues stay aligned with the overall goals of the meeting.
- Promote team development, cooperation, and esprit de corps.
- Provide direction toward resolving explicit and hidden conflicts.
- Prevent unproductive individual or group behavior from interfering with the goals of the meeting.
- Establish modes of operating that will help the group work together more effectively over time.
- Most importantly, provide a safe environment that supports open and honest communication, and encourage people to place tough issues on the table without fear that the discussion will fall apart, or worse, explode.
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Basic Strategy Questions — A Checklist
Here are some questions that should be asked in assessing business strategy.
Market Overview
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What is the addressable market? |
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What is the size of the market? |
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What are the historical and projected market growth rates and trends? |
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What are the key growth drivers? |
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What is the current regulatory/legislative environment and how does it impact the firm’s businesses? |
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Competition
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Who are the major players in the market? How are these players strategically positioned? |
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What is the firm’s market share (historical, current and projected)? |
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How is the firm competitively differentiated in the market? |
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What is firm’s current market and product/service strategy relative to its competitors? |
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What is firm’s’s strategic positioning in its addressable market? |
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What is firm’s competitive advantage in each of its target markets? |
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What complementary new markets is the firm currently considering entering? |
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Why do customers choose this firm over the competition? Why do customers choose the competition over this firm? |
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Service Offering
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What are the key product and service offerings? |
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Who’s the target customer? |
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What is firm’s value proposition? |
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What is the profitability by product/service offering? |
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What is the pricing? |
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What is the typical contract length? |
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Business Model
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What is the firm’s business model? |
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How does each business unit make money? |
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What are the key revenue drivers of the firm’s businesses? |
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What factors have limited revenue growth? |
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Organization
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What is the number of employees by location and business unit? |
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What are the firm’s HRM policies: recruitment, compensation level, compensation structure etc. |
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What is the employee turnover? |
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What is the relationship with the Labor? |
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How can the firm attract and retain top talent? |
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Marketing & Sales Strategy
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How does the firm currently market its products/services? |
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What is firm’s strategy to build its membership base? |
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What promotion and advertising activities support the firm’s marketing initiatives? |
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What is the customer’s decision-making process? |
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How does the Brand link to the firm’s internal and external identity? |
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Customers
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What types of customers does the firm serve? |
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Who are the firm’s key customers? |
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What is the firm’s dependence on key customer groups? |
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What is customer turnover/length of relationships? |
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Financial
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What are the revenue drivers of the business? |
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What is the revenue by region? |
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What is the revenue by service offering? |
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What is the revenue by customer? |
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What are the recurring revenue sources? |
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What are the company's accounting policies (e.g. revenue recognition)? |
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What are the cost drivers of the business? |
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What is the profitability by region? |
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What is the profitability by service offering? |
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What is the profitability by customer? |
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General Questions
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What are the key success factors and risks associated with the firm’s chosen competitive strategy? |
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Does the firm currently have the resources and capabilities to deal with the key success factors and risks? |
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Has the firm made irreversible commitments to bridge the gap between its current capabilities and the requirements to achieve its competitive advantage? |
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Is the company’s competitive advantage sustainable? Are there any barriers that make imitation of the firm’s strategy difficult? |
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Are there potential changes in the firm’s industry structure that might dissipate the firm’s competitive advantage? Is the company flexible enough to address these changes? |
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Also see the following articles from SUCCESS STRATEGIES, the WBW & Associates, LLC. newsletter:
“Strategic Planning Guidelines” Spring 2003
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