Question

How do you use strategy in your current position or how does your current position align with your organisation's overall strategy?

Answer 1

Here is how I use strategy in my current position which is leading the entire operations and product management.

The three most relevant questions and understanding that is required while making strategy involves

• Mission - it answers the reasons, 'why', the purpose of what is planned to be done
• Values - how and what will be involved in the journey to achieve the same
• Vision - what is the end objective. It answers where are we trying to reach through the process.

My current position handling product operation makes sure it meets the mission, vision and values of the overall organisation.

Below is the process defined of how I used the strategy in my current role:

1)

Gather the facts: It is important to know the current/present stage of the business and before moving ahead a performance and current situation review must be done.

It is important because helps to identify areas of business in terms of what worked well in past, what could have been improvement areas and what opportunities lie in the future. Doing a SWOT (Strengths, weakness, opportunity and threat) analysis helps to understand all the internal and external factors.

2)

Formulate a vision statement for the business

Vision helps to define the future state of the company and what it strives to achieve in the long run. It is important because it helps to picture your business future roadmap and inspire the people involved in achieving it. It is important because it gives a sense of purposeful action and helps unifying people for a common purpose.

3)

Formulating a mission statement for the business

Mission helps in defining the business purpose and most importantly helps outline the primary objectives which the business strives to achieve. It helps to bridge the strategy by defining the actions to be taken in short term to achieve long-term goals.

The mission can be further expanded and understood by developing a canvas to answer - what is the business planning to do, how and what process is involved in doing it, who are the customers we are planning to work for and what value proposition we bring to the table.

4)

Identifying Strategic Areas and Tactical Plans for the business

Identifying strategic areas helps to prioritise the objectives and supports further detailed planning that will ensure the smooth execution of the vision and mission plan of the business. It is important because it lists the key performance indicators for the overall plan to be successful, it helps in resource allocation and right budgetary assessments.

Since the business has many parts involving various departments and function tactical plan add much value to the strategy. It helps in making an action plan for all verticals of the business and helps focus on results that measurable

After forming the strategy Performance Management is an important aspect for continuous strategy improvement.

It becomes essential to continuously review all the formed strategies at regular intervals to make sure the business is on track for achieving desired goals.

The leaders and subordinates are involved in the process of strategy creation to continuously review it and ensure relevant information and important details are compiled, improvement in planning is executed, prioritisation of goals is happening.

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