Organizational Optimization – Workshop 2 (Needs Prioritization)
The Appleton Greene Corporate Training Program (CTP) for Organizational Optimization is provided by Mr. Shortt Certified Learning Provider (CLP). Program Specifications: Monthly cost USD$2,500.00; Monthly Workshops 6 hours; Monthly Support 4 hours; Program Duration 12 months; Program orders subject to ongoing availability.
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Learning Provider Profile
Mr. Shortt is a Certified Learning Provider (CLP) at Appleton Greene and Co (AGC) as well as the owner of an international business education and consultancy company which focuses on individual, personnel and overall business optimization. Mr. Shortt is honored to provide AGC services through a wide array of past business experience that includes such industries as Biotechnology, Healthcare, Government and Utilities. In these industries, Mr. Shortt has held various roles in operations management, product management and design, sales, and workflow optimization.
Historically, Mr. Shortt has worked with many of the Fortune 500 global leaders in diagnostics, information technology products and services, such as McKesson, Roche, and Danaher, and has also served in the US Army as an officer in the Medical Service Corps, where Mr. Shortt provided not only leadership expertise, but also workflow optimization utilizing IT and hardware applications, leveraging such workflows aids as robotics and automation. Mr. Shortt’s personal education, which is highlighted by an MBA with an Executive certification, has been structured for him to be able to provide leadership perspective and expertise in how to identify a business’ foundational current state in such areas as Financials, Business Strategy, Marketing Strategy, and Personnel Management, and then to leverage that expertise to prioritize and optimize a business’ path to success. Mr. Shortt holds various certifications, such as Business Analysis from a managerial perspective, and also possesses a Six-Sigma Black Belt certification. Mr. Shortt’s personally-owned business, Ascension Advising Solutions, LLC, which is based in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA, as well as in Tallinn, Estonia in the EU, has provided business training and consultation services for various international companies in Europe, the United Kingdom, South Africa, and recently in China. Mr. Shortt is the author of two books on finding financial success and empowering your business, as well as a business optimization blog. Mr. Shortt is also the primary author and life coach of a self-optimization website dedicated to the long-standing benefits of mindfulness meditation in today’s modern world. Mr. Shortt’s service skills for AGC notably incorporate: leadership optimization, business strategy and optimization, personnel management, and program education and development.
MOST Analysis
Mission Statement
As a result of the information triggers from Month One, the proper placement of the program can be established. As current leaders of the organization with executive responsibility for operations, Month Two is dedicated to the determination, and possibly, the prioritization of optimizing processes within business units and/or departments. Larger organizations that are comprised of product and/or service delivery functions, logistics, human resources and training, and information technology units, can have many areas of need for business optimization. It is at this point in the program that the organization establishes buy-in for where this program will first be implemented: At what tier in the organization and which business unit(s)? If at lower departmental tiers within business units, which departments are considered higher priority for the benefits of optimization? Should this program be implemented across departments with multiple starting points, and possibly over multiple years? These are all questions that will be answered as means of proper placement of the program based on priority and how the benefits of the program can provide the best overall impact to the organization.
Objectives
01. Defining a Need: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research and development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
02. Organizational Priorities: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research and development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
03. Purpose and Vision: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research and development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
04. Prioritization Process: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research and development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
05. Identifying and Clarifying Needs: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research and development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
06. Define Characteristics of Each Need: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research and development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
07. Tackling Needs in Order of Urgency: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research and development. 1 Month
08. Additional Criteria for Needs Prioritization: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research and development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
09. Prioritization Tools: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research and development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
10. Roadmapping Tools : departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research and development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
11. Stakeholder Communication and Buy-in: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research and development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
12. Define Stakeholders for Process Improvement Projects: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research and development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
Strategies
01. Defining a Need: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research and development.
02. Organizational Priorities: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research and development.
03. Purpose and Vision: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research and development.
04. Prioritization Process: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research and development.
05. Identifying and Clarifying Needs: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research and development.
06. Define Characteristics of Each Need: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research and development.
07. Tackling Needs in Order of Urgency: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research and development.
08. Additional Criteria for Needs Prioritization: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research and development.
09. Prioritization Tools: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research and development.
10. Roadmapping Tools: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research and development.
11. Stakeholder Communication and Buy-in: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research and development.
12. Define Stakeholders for Process Improvement Projects: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research and development.
Tasks
01. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Defining a Need.
02. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Organizational Priorities.
03. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Purpose and Vision.
04. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Prioritization Process.
05. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Identifying and Clarifying Needs.
06. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Define Characteristics of Each Need.
07. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Tackling Needs in Order of Urgency.
08. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Additional Criteria for Needs Prioritization.
09. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Prioritization Tools.
10. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Roadmapping Tools.
11. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Stakeholder Communication and Buy-in.
12. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Define Stakeholders for Process Improvement Projects.
Introduction
The goal of Workshop 2 is to identify any current significant pain points that your organization may be experiencing. The needs prioritization would probably be focused on a well-known, obvious problem, like persistent logistical errors that are negatively hurting actual sales. Every company will experience problems that need to be resolved, and the goal of this workshop is to identify these problems and acquire the information needed to rapidly and efficiently address them (s). However, depending on the job or position of the user, this application itself is a guide to show people how to effectively assess, prioritize, and manage/implement change across numerous pain points (bottlenecks) inside a department, and/or across departments and/or business units.
Every organization needs what is called a “Hierarchy of Purpose”. It is nearly impossible to prioritize effectively without one.
Strategic and operational prioritization can frequently mean the difference between success and failure. However, a lot of businesses do it poorly.
Let’s use a real-world illustration: a corporation that delivers packages to customers via the postal service. In an era of escalating competition and digital equivalents, the company has been fighting to survive, much like many other postal systems. At a series of town hall meetings, senior management invited staff members to focus on two operational priorities: effectiveness (improving delivery times) and customer satisfaction (ensuring customers had a good experience).
Mary, a worker, understood the message. And all went smoothly until she was out delivering items when an old guy knocked on her door and invited her inside for a short conversation. Mary’s instinct was to see the lonely old man for a while. In addition to being a kind thing to do, it would undoubtedly improve consumer satisfaction. She then froze, though. How about effectiveness? Her delivery timings would suffer if she talked to her customer for even a brief period of time. What exactly was she to do? At this company, thousands of workers had to make comparable decisions every day.
The situation is a common one. The postal company’s senior management believed they had conveyed clear priorities, but in reality, they had produced an operational conundrum as a result of strategic uncertainty.
Compare this to other profitable businesses. For instance, the low-cost airline Ryanair in Europe is quite open about the fact that it is a no-frills business where operational priority is efficiency, which takes precedence above customer service. Ryanair employees are aware of the importance of each task and know how to prioritize their time accordingly.
Prioritizing improves strategic project success rates, senior management team focus and alignment toward strategic goals, operational team confidence in decision-making, and, most importantly, fosters an execution attitude and culture.
Of course, there are times when leaders just select the incorrect priorities and make the wrong decisions. However, in many cases, the issue seen more frequently is that leaders don’t actually make any obvious judgments. They don’t make it clear what they mean when they say, “it matters.” Simply put, they lack priorities.
Companies with highly developed perceptions of priorities include Apple, Amazon, Lego, Ikea, and Western Union, and the benefits are significant. Companies that start prioritizing can see significant cost savings as less important tasks are eliminated and redundant efforts are combined.
An organization’s list of priorities can be very telling. A senior executive team will typically have a generous portfolio of priorities if their risk appetite is very low (or if they lack the ability or desire to make the difficult decisions); they don’t want to take the risk of not being compliant, missing a market opportunity, not having the newest technologies, etc. However, based on many observations, the most effective executives tend to take more risks and have a laser-like focus on a select few priorities. These business leaders are cognizant of current and future issues. At its most extreme, this may involve focusing only on one priority. More concentration is preferable.