Product Enhancement Announcement

imapMyTeam® is pleased to introduce a new report that is scheduled for release in February 2013.

“Assessing Personal Risk in the Plan”

This report is designed to assist you in learning where you may experience personal pitfalls when evaluating your role in a larger plan.

Check the Plan: How You Proactively Respond to Reality

“However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results” … Sir Winston Churchill

The business climate today is demanding, unforgiving and sometimes brutal. Customers expect you to do more with less and do it right - the first time. Two essential skills for successful execution are to proactively ‘Check your Plan’ and ‘Respond to Reality’.

In last week’s tip on ‘Strategy and Tactics’ our focus was on the strengths of Reds and Blues. This week as you ‘Check your Plan’ and ‘Respond to Reality’, consider the helpful strengths of Greens and Yellows. The imapMyTeam® information describes the strength of the Greens [diamond symbol] as flexible and externally oriented. They are good at making sure we understand the impact on others outside the immediate group, including the customer. The complimentary strength of the Yellows [diamond symbol] is to bring focus to the team and use established guidelines and procedures (infrastructure) to make sure we move forward in an organized way.

Any successful plan needs people on the team who are flexible and focused. Most people are stronger in one characteristic than the other. Some roles on teams are clearly defined to be one or another.

In the center pane pull down menu of www.imapmyteam.com ® there is a report titled: Team Player Strengths. This report is a set of adjectives that will describe many of your specific strengths. As you read this list, do the descriptions suggest your strengths are to be more flexible or focused? Which does your job require?

Consider how your strengths enable you to ‘Respond to Reality’ in your work day. If your strengths suggest flexibility, identify where you might need to apply some focus so you ensure that you complete your tasks. If your strengths suggest focus, identify where in your work day you need to exercise flexibility. Now, ‘Check your plan’. Do you need more flexibility or focus to deal with the realities of your work day? 

How You Use Strategy and Tactics to Execute the Plan

When it comes to executing the plan, is it the strategy or the tactics that produces the best business results?

There is a great quote by Jack Welch from his book “Winning”.  He says “In real life, strategy is actually very straightforward, you pick a general direction and implement like hell”.  Mr. Welch may be describing our workplaces more accurately than we would care to admit.

When we facilitate group programs using the imapMyTeam information we often describe the strength  [diamond symbol] of ‘blues’ as those who are future oriented and make sure we are ‘doing the right things.’ They are good at making sure we are pointed the right way before we begin any action. The opposite complimentary strength [diamond symbol] are the ‘reds’  who are more concerned with the ‘now’ and action and want to make sure we move intangibles [ideas] to tangibles by getting a lot done through “implementing like hell” to ensure that the strategy works well.

For any endeavor to be successful we need people on the team who are adroit at the strategic and the tactical. Not everyone can be both. Some roles on teams are clearly defined to be one or another. The long-term objectives of strategy means that help is necessary in reaching those objectives. Much like the weak link of a chain, no strategy can be better than its successful tactical implementation.

When you consider your current role and responsibilities are you required to be more dedicated to the strategic or the tactical execution of the plan? What strengths do you employ to achieve those strategic or tactical goals?

To give you a better idea you can do this:

In the center pane of imapMyTeam.com  there is a report titled: Team Player Strengths. This report is a set of adjectives that will describe many of your specific individual strengths.

Run this report on yourself, and consider how those strengths help you contribute to executing the plan. Even if we have dominant strengths [diamond symbol] that are green or yellow there are some red and/or blue strengths in all of us.

Your personal lists of strengths may solidify you as more red, more blue, or maybe a bit of both.

How Your Strengths Contribute to the Plan

Nearly all of us welcome the start of each New Year with reflection and resolutions about the year ahead.  The resolutions are typically filled with good intentions, but we often will miss our goals if we try to implement them without a well-rounded and robust plan.

Planning is an essential component of success and “a good plan is like a roadmap; it shows the final destination, and usually the best way to get there” (H. Stanley Judd)

As you consider your goals or how you can best contribute to an established plan, looking to your proven strengths is a great way to get a solid start in arriving at your final destination.  Even better, is to understand how each member of your team contributes to the plan.

Each of the four quadrants brings particular strengths to the planning process, and then to implementing that plan. At a very high level here is what that looks like:

The red quadrant brings speed to the process. A red plan is all about being decisive and moving decisions to action quickly. Their emphasis is on the tasks that make up the plan.

The blue quadrant brings direction to the process. A blue plans by taking time to think through complexity, and making sure we are sure of our direction before we begin to take action. Their emphasis is on the impact and consequences of the plan.

‘Reds’ and ‘Blues’ make good partners when planning because their opposing strengths are complimentary to each other.

The green quadrant brings flexibility and conviction to the process. A green plan may focus on being responsive and changing quickly to meet shifting business circumstances and being assertive in doing so. Their emphasis is on flexibility in managing key relationships.

The yellow quadrant brings focus and accountability to the process. A Yellow plan is about staying the course with the process and plans we have established and giving them time to work. Their emphasis is on details that lead to a successful implementation of the plan.

‘Greens’ and ‘Yellows’ make good partners in planning because their opposing strengths complement each other.

For more insight to the strengths of each quadrant go the Team Dynamics report in imapMyTeam and review your teams strengths.