6.4 THE STRATEGIST IN YOU: Steering Everyone in the Right Direction

(SHORT NOTES FROM STRATEGY TOOLS:

Executing Strategies at http://www.mindtools.com)

The Hoshin Planning System

Sometimes individuals, teams, and even whole departments can get so far off course that they seem not even to remember what the final destination was supposed to be.  It’s useful to have a system to co-ordinate different parts of your organization and keep them on course such as the "Hoshin Kanri".  Developed by the Japanese in the 1960s and '70s, Hoshin Kanri (also called the Hoshin Process) is a useful process for managing work towards a key strategic initiative (a hoshin). This approach aligns all parts of an organization to accomplish an important objective.

Hoshin Kanri is a system for strategic planning that:

1.    Selects a key objective.

2.   Aligns implementation plans at all levels.

3.   Implements, reviews, and improves the plan on an ongoing basis.

The steps in Hoshin Kanri system are:

1.    (Plan) Define What to Improve

2.   (Plan) Establish Sub-Goals to Achieve Objective

3.   (Do) Communicate the Plan

·        Communicate the plan throughout the organization

·        Ensure that all levels of the company understand the vision and goals

·        department and team set its own goals to link directly to the objective and the sub-goals established

·        managers in these departments and teams "ripple goals down" so that everybody knows their part in the plan

·        clear responsibility for each item in the implementation plan

4.   (Check) Develop a System to Collect Information on Your Control Parameters, and Then use it to Manage Change

·        Create a review table that shows the:

·         

·        Goal.

·        Goal owner(s).

·        Time frame.

·        Performance metrics.

·        Targets.

·        Actual results.

5.   (Act) Analyze Results, and Take Corrective Action Where Needed

6.   Repeat the Process as Needed