All posts by : Zuzana

Let’s take a look at what strategic mapping is, its purpose and its contribution to a dramatic reorientation from operational details to strategic intentions. Creating a map during the strategic planning process will help not only management, but entire companies and employees at all levels.

The concept of mapping strategies is not a new tool, but it was first introduced in the early 1990s with the introduction of the Strategic Maps template. Kaplan and Norton (1996) originally presented the concept of a strategy map in their book Balanced Scorecard: Implementation of the Strategy.

With a well-designed strategic map, employees can know the overall strategy and how they fit into the picture.

For small teams and businesses, their strategy may and will be different from large companies.

Strategy mapping requires each element to be a start-point and endpoint plan.

The strategic map also helps you evaluate the overall performance of your company while giving you the opportunity to delve deeper into the different components of your strategy if needed. It also facilitates the definition and communication of the company’s strategy/mission/vision/direction.

But what exactly is a strategic map?

It is one of the strategic planning tools.

• How to correctly identify your individual goals?
• How to ensure that they are balanced, interconnected with each other and with the mission (motto) of society?

A strategic map is a visual tool to help you work with priorities and their relationships. Each strategic map has a main 4 perspectives:

• Finance
  • Revenue growth
  • Productivity
• Customers
  • Customer value design is key to the finance mission
  • Customer’s privacy
  • How to achieve financial and customer goals?
  • Improving customer relationship (increasing value for the customer)
• Product management
• Operational excellence
  • Processes
  • Working on operational excellence
• Fostering growth through innovation and expansion
• Good relations with external partners
• Learning and growth
• Skills and knowledge of employees

The strategic map and its four levels help you better define what you want to achieve, identify key objectives. The map can also reveal intangible means that create strategic value (unique know-how, for example).

Benefits of strategic mapping

• Multi-level breakdown = creation of short-term tactics to achieve long-term goals
• Simpler delegation and analysis</li><li>Greater understanding and engagement
• Better risk management

From visualization to execution

• Define mission, vision, values
• Priorities + priorities in each perspective
• Specify business goals
• What are the priorities related to business objectives? And why did you choose these specific goals?
• By determining metrics and methodologies
• Implementation plans

You can use a lot of expert tools to create a strategic map, or even platforms offering cheap yet high-quality solutions. Personally, I always start with notes, with a pencil and paper, I choose the tool according to a specific case.

But one thing is certain, a strategic map is a tool, not a target. The goal is to achieve your goals connected to your mission, culture and within your environment, with subsequent growth. It is not possible to achieve goals that are disconnected from the priorities and vision of society.

I don’t know what is it work-life balance.

I mean, to set the record straight. What is presented everywhere as a meta work-life balance creates unrealistic fantasies and disappointments for many people who naively believe that they can create something amazingly large and prosperous in the long run without any effort.

Personal optimization

Unfortunately, my clients also come up to me with this idea, which require personal optimization. Although they know how much effort it took to build their business, they were somehow tempted by the marketing idea of a lot of leisure time (or they don’t do what they really want – but that’s a different story), but that’s not the case at all. Yes, the goal of all this is freedom, financial and time. But freedom of time does not mean sit on the porch for two days (without the help of creating that source of infinite income).

It takes some effort, especially at the beginning.

My Time Management

Freedom of time means choice, but certainly no not doing anything.

Sometimes I work 20 hours a day myself. And it’s certainly not incompetence, a lack of time management, and certainly not the incompetence of a consultant to advise what I don’t follow. It’s passion. Passion. I love my job. As a consultant, I can help my clients achieve their goals. As the owner and founder of several companies (projects), I can supply products and services that help our clients.

And yes, I have a family, I have children. And I know they’re not suffering.

The children have reached the age where we talk to them openly about everything. When we spend time together, we actually spend it together (disconnected). I, their biological father and my partner are entrepreneurs, obsessed with action and moving forward. All three of us are working in front of them, we’re talking to them, and the kids are learning from it. Son found his business opportunity on youTube and my daughter tries to break through with fashion pieces, both learning on crypto market demo accounts. And all on their own initiative, and on the condition that they don’t neglect school, and they weren’t even 14 yet…

What is work-life balance for me?

The possibility to do what I enjoy and fulfil, the possibility to switch off when&nbsp; I need or want to be with my family.

I hear your question

And what do I advise my clients when they ask me for personal optimization?

The diplomatic answer may be: It depends on their goals and needs…

Most of the time, however, it is really about improving time management, delegation, introducing practical tools and possibilities of viewing from the outside…

A common cause, as with companies, can be found in hidden productivity (time) eaters, frozen processes, inefficient information flows and blinders.

Sometimes it’s a challenge. And because it is a very intense task with the client, friendship or other cooperation is often also made.

Anyway, I don’t have a personal optimization client who wouldn’t recommend me anymore or even complain…

Lingering uncertainty? Long-term crisis management concerning the current situation in the world? How to build a resilient company? How to stand and survive into new-normal?

The current situation isn’t difficult not only CFO &amp; CEO in its positions. Let’s see what key decisions business strategists can make and that will help create a resilient business on the path to business prosperity and growth.

Lack of cash, a transition to the home office, necessary change in business processes, the need to digitize and automate many on the administrative agenda, the need to flexibly change. These are the most common challenges for entrepreneurs, managers and all businessmen/women in recent months increasingly than they used to.

The company’s resilience consists of three key points:

• Financial resilience = ability to face and withstand events affecting liquidity returns…
• Operational resilience = ability to absorb impacts, changes, technologies and market needs
• Reputational resilience = ability to react, communicate and create trust not only externally, but also inside society

Corporate management of the resilient company

must realize that none of these key strategic pillars of the company’s resilience can be omitted or neglected. Like a stool with three legs…

For a successful change, it must always be complex and therefore a change in multiple directions is often required.

Crisis plans of all crisis managers and managers mostly work with the theories “What if…”

• Change in demand
• Possibility for employees to go to work
• Irregularity of material/goods supplies
• Natural and other restrictions (government)
• New necessary processes (health checks, spacing, etc.)

But are they just risk?

Yes for Amazon, for example, the current situation is an indisputable opportunity, which also makes good use of…

But let’s go back to building resilience.

What steps to take to make your business resilient and healthy company?

• Schedule for different periods. Count on more possible scenarios (and never forget the “worst-case scenario” and be prepared to come out of it with your head up)
• Plan and look at things from different perspectives – an outside view, outside of operational blindness, is often very effective
• Prepare different scenarios for the company’s process planning
• Monitor your actions and their consequences, review regularly and bring possible adjustments to the next steps</li><li>Work with your strategic plans, forecasts and&nbsp; cashflow
• Have a list of possible alternative vendors

Basic questions when building a resilient business:

• Do I have a clear idea of what financial, operational and reputational resilience means for the company?
• Are we operationally and financially prepared for another emergency or crisis?
• Is our infrastructure and service provider ecosystem agile and event-ready?
• Do we know how changing market dynamics and the development of public opinion can affect a company and its reputation?
• Does our company’s culture support resilience when it comes to managing disruptive elements (continuity) and adapting to economic, political or cultural changes (adaptive capacity)?
• Do we have a clear purpose that stakeholders can trust and support?
• Are we currently taking a proactive and holistic approach to building organizational resilience and risk management?

Flexibility

is another, but not the last, important part of resilient companies. The ability to adapt, to increase activity in the field for which there is demand, and vice versa to reduce the ability to not to suffer where there are no temporary sales.

Finally, I dare to recall the basic mantra of more than one crisis manager:

Don’t be freezy by fear.

If you’re scared, you’ll never solve anything. But if you really feel like you’re not going to give this up, it’s perfectly ok to call in a specialist. On the contrary, you may be pleasantly surprised at how elegantly this can be solved.