Strategic Planning – 7 Critical Success Factors

Critical Success Factors. To ensure success in strategic planning there are several things that need to be in place before you even start. These usually take the form of an agreement to do things in a particular way. If these ‘principles’ are in place as you set out...

Strategy Maps – 5 useful tips

A Strategy Map is a very useful tool for any commercial enterprise or public organisation. It can take many forms; from a classic four perspectives Kaplan and Norton variety to the more esoteric Tesco circle. The primary purpose of a strategy map is to communicate a...

Why Red Amber Green (RAG)?

A Key Performance Indicator (KPI) is meaningless unless its value can be compared to something. Without a comparison it is impossible to say if the value is good, bad or indifferent. The comparator could be a target based on previous performance or on a notional...

Using History to Set Targets

We live in an age where we are dependent on the immediacy of data we sometimes forget that business performance can only be determined by how well we have done in the past. We are often fighting so many fires we cannot find the time to examine past performance to...