How to Prioritize Strategic Objectives

Is your business ready to grow and get traction on projects and growth ideas but you’ve hit a plateau and are not sure how to get “unstuck”?

Focus is required to get traction on your objectives. An impactful step that can either be activated immediately in conjunction with an alignment session which focuses on your Values, Vision, Mission, or sometime shortly thereafter, is a Strategic Prioritization Session.

A Strategic Prioritization Session, identifies your strategic options and ranks them so you can prioritize to get traction.

Here’s the process that I take my clients through, that you can do with your team:

1. Assessment – Take Stock 

Sit down with the key decision makers in your organization and take a look at:

  • Where you are now.
  • What direction does the team seem to be heading?

  • Where do you want the business to go?
  • What are the many initiatives that your company is currently exploring to improve effectiveness, increase profitability, and foster growth?
  • What are the key criteria for consideration in prioritizing your objectives?

2. Survey – Ask Questions

Create a survey for distribution to your entire team and allow them to submit anonymously. Ask what top projects they would like to work on, and what they would like to see the company work on. Where do they think they are wasting time? Ask for their ideas for company efficiency and growth.

3. Preparation – Amalgamate, Synthesize 

Once the surveys are submitted, import the answers question by question; it doesn’t matter who said what. Merge, amalgamate, synthesize, and consolidate while looking for patterns and themes. Group like answers together. Then create summary slides for projects, growth ideas, and criteria.

Invite all key team members to attend a Focus Session to prioritize strategic objectives. Create and circulate an agenda ahead of time.

4. Session – Achieve Focus 

In the session ask everyone to put aside their “doing” hats and think big picture as a strategic adviser. Guide everyone through discussions on projects, growth ideas, and criteria. Draw out their thoughts and ideas. Listen closely. There are no right or wrong answers, only things that uniquely become in alignment for your organization.

List your options and criteria in a matrix, and assign values as to how each option meets each criterion. Ranking and prioritizing strategic objectives as a team keeps everyone focused when they are prioritizing their work moving forward.

5. Leverage the outcome 

Be sure to capture your newly identified priorities on a visually enticing page that is referenced regularly and incorporated into SMART objectives for each team member. Hitting these objectives will ensure your team feel a sense of pride and satisfaction, and that will take your company a long way!

Focus is the fourth of my Six Ingredients for Profitability & Growth. To learn about the other five ingredients check out my FREE eGuide and subscribe to my YouTube Channel for videos!

To your profitability and growth!