How Do You Write a Turnaround Strategy?
Canadian provinces are all at differing stages of their coronavirus lockdown, and your business, like so many others, has been hit hard by the fallout from the virus. Now, all any of us can do is wait. Wait on the vaccine to be distributed. Wait to hear what the new normal is going to be for our country and our province.
You're ahead of the game, though, because you've already answered the hard question for your organization of whether you plan to reopen, or whether you plan to resume normal business if yours has been able to operate only partially throughout 2020. As tragic and devastating as the coronavirus has been to all aspects of our world, you have the gift of time right now to ask yourself the next question. Once the vaccine has unlocked the country, how do I get my company up and running at its best?
The answer is to write a turnaround strategy for your organization that will show the way to get you back up to operational status quickly and as painlessly as possible as soon as the doors are fully open. You don't want to just do as well as you were doing before the pandemic--you want to come back better and stronger than you were in 2019. A turnaround strategy can build the framework that will make that happen.
colleagues wearing masks entering office
What is a Turnaround Strategy and How Do I Write One?
A turnaround strategy is a road map to show you and your company how to accomplish your mission, whether that is shareholder value, or making the world a better place, or both.
You are the person who needs to bring order, accountability, and focused actions to the organization, and from the place on that map where you stand right now--with the virus raging, with the provinces in lockdown, with your business in trouble, if not completely shut down, and with your employees fearful of the future--it's time to decide exactly where you want to take your company, and what will be needed in terms of time, people and money to get there. Below are the four steps you'll need to accomplish in order to get your organization up and running once more.
Turnaround Strategy Step One — Assess
Turnaround Strategy Step Two — Excel Through Management
Turnaround Strategy Step Three — Develop Goals and Analytics
Turnaround Strategy Step Four — Ensure Communication
Turnaround Strategy Step One — Assess
You can't know where you're going unless you know where you've been. Now is the time to complete a stark, brutal assessment of where you were before the pandemic began, and where you are right now. For instance:
Was your company culture a train wreck?
Did you have the right people, but needed more funding to accomplish the set goals?
Was your strategic plan in place, and if so, did it work?
Were the goals that existed in line with the organizational mission?
In order to accomplish a post-pandemic turnaround, you must also ask yourself if there is any current attribute of your company's operation that is worth keeping. In other words, if your people are now working fully from home, is it worth continuing that, or building a hybrid of virtual and in-office work for your employees? In the case of a restaurant that's moved fully to either home delivery or takeout, what are the best parts of that change? What of your current activities could enhance the bottom line for a post-pandemic operation?
Turnaround Strategy Step Two — Excel Through Management
The first assessment is just the beginning, though. According to the American Bankruptcy Institute, a successful turnaround will require assessing "...the financial situation, the state of manufacturing and operations, marketing analysis, an analysis of process engineering and research and development, an analysis of human resources, and the state of organization development. The turnaround manager needs to make an assessment of the internal strengths and weaknesses of the organization based on this analysis. In addition, the turnaround manager must analyze the external competitive and regulatory environment."
Turnaround strategy management is a matter of looking at every aspect of the issues where your organization needed change before the pandemic, and where it was doing well, and developing a strategic road map for accomplishing the improvements that will drive the company's mission. From there, the turnaround strategy manager will build a robust business plan that can be presented to potential financial backers, if needed, in order to accomplish the end goals.
Turnaround Strategy Step Three — Develop Goals and Analytics
The turnaround strategy manager must be able to ensure development of the specific goal sets which, when accomplished will create the turnaround, and be able to communicate those goal sets to those that are responsible for goal accomplishment.
The turnaround strategy manager should work to create goals that are SMART — Strategic, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound.
With SMART goals, you have the baked-in analysis through the "measurable" attribute that iterates throughout the entire process. By assisting your employees in creating this set of goals, you assure that the individual strategies feed into the larger company-wide strategies.
Goals are created as achievable because a team that never achieves their goals becomes dispirited and will eventually fail at the larger mission. It's your responsibility as manager to make sure they're not biting off more than they can chew.
And finally, time-bound is important because nebulous deadlines lend themselves to nebulous outcomes. In order to create a successful turnaround, everyone should be able to add their piece to the whole strategy to create the synergies necessary to turn your company around.
Turnaround Strategy Step Four — Ensure Communication
There is no such thing as too much communication throughout the turnaround process. The turnaround strategy manager should be checking in with all people or teams that are involved in course corrections for the company and all stakeholders within the organization, vendors and customers.
Every communication should be consistent and should be driving toward the end goal.
Every one of your people involved in the turnaround at whatever level should also understand their roles and responsibilities throughout the process, and should be able to communicate how their actions fit into the overall turnaround. They must know what success looks like, for themselves, for their team, and for the organization as a whole. It is the turnaround strategy manager's responsibility to make sure this happens.
Customers and vendors should also be reassured that post-pandemic actions are being mapped out now, and a communication conduit with any financial institutions should be open at all times.
Map Your Turnaround Strategy Now
Your business is worth the work to write a turnaround strategy, and now is the time to do it, before we all emerge from the pandemic on a level playing field. At BMCO, we have more than a decade of assisting businesses like yours to thrive and soar. Let's schedule a No Sweat Intro! Contact us here to discuss your next steps for creating your company's successful turnaround strategy.
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