As you plan for the year ahead, use the following questions to create a strategic inventory of what you need to do:
1. What are the barriers–systems, processes, etc.–that impede individual and organizational performance?
2. What are the most important results we need to create each week, month and quarter to reach our goals for the year?
3. What will be different about the year ahead that will impact how we do business?
4. What thinking (that may have worked in the past) do we need to discard?
5. What can we do to avoid management philosophy du jour?
6. Are we truly customer centric? What do they like, dislike and what are they willing to pay for? What is the customer’s biggest problem? Biggest opportunity? How does the customer define quality and value?
7. Are we using the right rewards to reward the right behaviors?
8. What training and development is most needed and will provide the biggest return on our investment of time and money?
9. Is our strategy congruent with our values?
10. Have we taught every employee how to add value to his or her work?
11. Have we cultivated openness to change? If not, how will we do that?
12. Can we change faster than our competitors, the marketplace and the needs of our customers?
13. Do we know as much as possible about our current and potential competitors?
14. What have we/can we learn from our competitors?
15. What strategic relationships need to be created, repaired or strengthened?
16. Do meeting produce measurable results?
17. How will we solicit, encourage and reward ideas from our team?
18. Are we truly listening to and hearing what our employees say?
19. What is our shared vision of the future?
20. How will we monitor and reward exceptional performance?
