2014 is almost here. What are your financial, customer and human capital expectations for the new year? How clear are your employees about the 2014 initiatives and their role in achieving them?

This is the time of year that organizations are building their strategies for the new year. To help you in the process, I share a lesson that I was taught in my big Italian family. Every New Year’s day after a wonderful dinner, we would clear the plates and bring out the paper – time for New Year’s resolutions. My father guide us by using what he called the 3 Rs – Review, Rethink, Respond.

Review – We were to look back over the past year and identify our successes and challenges. What worked and what didn’t work? This gave us the critical information about what was true – from this point we were able to move forward on how the next year will capitalize on what was successful and what will need to be improved or different.In organizations this starts with the SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats). A SWOT analysis is an effective review tool as it provides the ability to develop an accurate view of what is true about the organization. However, at the Review point, I like to focus only on the S, W and T. Strengths – what your organizations excels at. Weaknesses – what your organization is failing at. Threats – what outside influences can or will affect your business that you may not have any control over but you will need to have a plan to deal with. These three give you a clear understanding of the business and the environment it is working in. We create O – Opportunities in the next step.

Rethink – As kids we were asked to use the information that our Review gave us to reinvent and rethink how the new year would be. With regard to your organization, this is the place to start to identify the O – Opportunities. Each of your Strengths becomes Opportunities – rethink how to do more of what you excel at. Each of your Weaknesses become Opportunities – rethink how to correct and improve what you are failing at. Each of your Threats become opportunities – Rethink how you can block, respond to or avoid a threat that may affect your organization. This is the place to start to develop your strategy by creating objectives for the following year that address your opportunities.

Respond – As kids, we were to then pick from the ideas and opportunities we created in the Rethink phase, and build an implementation plan – how we were going to achieve our particular goals through the next year. This was our family’s approach to New Year’s resolutions. In your organization, select the opportunities that will become your 2014 organizational objectives (my guidance is to limit them to 4 or 5). The organization owns the objectives; the departments then build their goals to achieve the objectives. Each person in the department then has his or her tactics to support the department’s goals. You then have an organizational, departmental and personal response plan.

Strategic planning starts with a Review – think the S, W and T. It then moves to Rethink with creating the Opportunities that will drive success in 2014 – created by exploiting Strengths, correcting Weaknesses or blocking Threats. It ends with Respond – where specific corporate 2014 objectives, departmental goals and employee tactics are created. This is how to start at the organizational level and push the strategy down to each employee.

Clarity about the direction, based on a thorough review of the facts, helps all departments and employees know what is important in 2014. From here, they can build, implement and be held accountable for progress on their plans. This is how the kids in a big Italian family moved forward each year. This is how great organizations use strategy to activate employee performance and achieve significant results.

For more information on strategic thinking, building a strategic plan and using the SWOT analysis to become an opportunity machine, contact one of our Fire Up! Your Employees® coaches. We are experts in guiding organizations in effective strategic planning to transform results.