Our business world is exceptionally volatile at the moment.
It is becoming increasingly difficult to develop strategies for success when every time you turn around there is another challenge that threatens your enterprise survival.
One of the most effective methods you can employ to navigate in this unstable business climate is to take an open-minded approach.
Growth Planning
Re-think your approach to planning.
Stop engaging in strategic planning focused on fun, bonding events where you dream about idealistic wishes for your future, resulting in ineffective plans that collect dust.
Focus instead on grounding your planning efforts by gaining the information and insight you need to develop effective business strategies. Leverage the emerging opportunities available to you and minimise the risks that an uncertain business landscape creates for your enterprise.
Let go of old ideas. Develop your business strategies around innovation and adaption.
Build your success on a future that is grounded in a full understanding of your situation, not on wishful thinking.
Consider how you can leverage new opportunities to enhance your operation and profitability.
Develop new opportunities
Effective planning in turbulent times requires an assessment of your market opportunities.
The environment is driven by significant market forces influencing your enterprise success and long-term potential.
These market forces impact your business lifecycle and the on-going value of your product or service offerings to your consumers. You must fully understand the impact of the market forces determining your ability to survive and thrive.
Staying close to your target market is crucial to your long-term success. But market needs, wants, and desires change over time. You must understand how your market is changing and why.
To remain feasible, you need to determine what you need to change to meet those evolving market needs.
Be a market leader
It takes many hours to master a skill or hone your expertise.
Don’t expect to be an effective leader in the beginning. It takes time. Building your insight to effectively navigate stormy strategic waters will take time too.
Asking the right questions is the foundation of an effective strategic mindset. Yet learning to ask the right questions is extremely difficult because most people only ask superficial questions that have easy answers.
Asking challenging questions allows you to deepen your understanding of the impact of each market force and their influence on your long-term potential for success.
Effective leaders in turbulent times are not afraid to listen to divergent perspectives.
They understand that their ability to take corrective action before things go wrong.
Be a decision maker
Decision making in an uncertain and unstable world begins with a desire for clarity.
Gaining clarity requires a complete and candid understanding of your situation.
Truth gives you information. Well-researched information gives you insight. Insight gives you the clarity you need to set the right priorities and focus your team on the most critical activities impacting your success.
Make sure you are not operating under a false set of assumptions that were correct at one time, but have not been updated to reflect your current situation.
So take action now. What is the first objective step you will take to address the impact of uncertainty in your business?
