Stimulate Company Growth Using Accounts Receivable Factoring

Accounts receivable factoring is the sale of part or all of a debt that someone owes to your company. When companies purchase a debt through accounts receivable factoring, they pay for your invoice at a discount. They then collect the debt directly from the company who owes you money.

Accounts receivable factoring is distinct from using your accounts receivable as loan collateral because you are outright selling some or all of your receivable to a factor, such as a bank or insurance company, at a discount. You don't collect the debt owed to you from that account anymore, but you also don't have to worry about loan repayments. Accounts receivable factoring makes up about a third of all financing secured by American companies using accounts receivable and inventory as collateral; it's not an uncommon practice. And accounts receivable factoring can help you get large orders that you otherwise wouldn't be able to manage.

Consider the following scenario: you have ten thousand dollars in cash on hand, most of which is currently earmarked for payroll or debt payment. As a relatively new company, you don't have credit enough to use your accounts receivable as collateral for a loan. A large new account becomes available, and you bid on it and win. The problem is, you only have a workforce of fifteen people, and the new contract requires you to staff it with twenty people, purchase several new computers, and find space for the new staff to work out of. And you must do this immediately.

Your ten thousand dollars isn't enough to do this, and you can't get a loan. But you can engage in accounts receivable factoring, sell your current receivables at a small discount, and have the cash immediately on hand to hire the staff, rent the space, and purchase your necessary equipment.

Another possibility - you have a large amount owed to you as in accounts receivable, but one company is paying much too slowly, despite the penalties for late payment. You can sell your not-past-due accounts receivable to an accounts receivable factoring agent in order to maintain your cash flow, and with penalties for late payment applied to the other company, you will probably break even.

Using Accounts Receivable Factoring Wisely

When you sell part of or all of an account to an accounts receivable factoring company, try to get a personal recommendation for the company from a trusted associate: another company's officer, a trusted friend, a bank, etc. If you can't, at the very least ensure your accounts receivable factoring agreement states exact conditions, charges, and procedures for the purchase of your accounts receivable.

And don't use accounts receivable factoring just as a way to get ready cash. Accounts receivable factoring can help you determine whether your payment terms are overly generous, whether the companies to whom you're extending credit are credit worthy, and whether your collections arrangements are adequate for your business. When you speak to the agent arranging your accounts receivable factoring, be it a broker or the actual funder, ask about these things. Accounts receivable factoring companies are interested in long-term ongoing relationships with companies, and will be happy to help you ensure your procedures and information concerning accounts receivable are adequate for your needs.

You should never use accounts receivable factoring for debts you suspect won't ever be paid. Again, you want to develop long-term relationships with accounts receivable factoring companies; they can help your company grow for a long time into the future. But if you sell them accounts they can't collect on, you can be certain they won't work with you again, and they may share that information with other accounts receivable factoring companies as well.

Storytelling For High Concept And High Touch

After hearing Daniel Pink speak about his new book A Whole New Mind: Moving from the Information Age to the Conceptual Age for the fourth time, I finally read it cover to cover (less than a day). I finally got what he's talking about when he says jobs that are high touch are here to stay. That is, jobs that builds relationships between business and client whether it's B2B or B2C. To that end, he advocates that we incorporate more storytelling into our relationships, that we make a point with a story, not just facts which everyone knows they need but still find boring. The reason is that stories are easier to remember. He goes on to list some of our contemporary characteristics distinguishing stories from facts:

Facts illuminate..........Stories amuse

Facts reveal..............Stories divert

Facts are for real........Stories are for cover

With the easy access to facts however, facts have become ubiquitous, available at the speed of light because of the internet and search engines like Google. So each fact becomes less valuable. What becomes more valuable is the ability to place these facts in context and deliver them with emotional impact. Stories exist where high concept and high touch intersect. This need is spawning the nascent movement called organizational storytelling at World Bank, NASA, even Xerox. It is even being used in branding advertisement on TV.

And as Mark Turner says in his book The Literary Mind, "Most of our experience, our knowledge and our thinking are organized as stories".

Why am I telling you? Here's Daniel Pink's answer: "Story is having another important impact on business. Like design, it is becoming a key way for individuals and entrepreneurs to distinguish their goods and services in a crowded marketplace."

So I wanted to share with you a story I heard last week. I like this story for three reasons: 1. it's a story out of Wal-Mart's success. 2. we can each apply it as a mini-self-assessment. 3. it's inspirational. I hope you like it too.


At Wal-Mart, in the beginning, everyone would start as a bagger, bagging the customer's purchases. Employees were monitored on a number of criteria. They were assessed on their attitude toward the job, attitude toward the customers, when they arrived for work, when the left, their enthusiasm for the job, contribution to the company and the company mission, etc. Sam Walton came up with a system for ranking all baggers. You were a 1 bagger, a 2 bagger or a 3 bagger.

The way Wal-Mart stores are designed; being a bagger is a key entry level job. The job of a bagger is to bag purchases for customers on two registers. A bagger is supposed to be able to keep up with two lines. However, there are some baggers who can only keep up with one register line, some who handle two lines and some who can handle three or maybe more lines.

One Baggers arrive at work on time, do the job to the best of their ability and leave on time, no matter what. They can only handle one register line. They don't see what needs to be done beyond their assigned tasks and don't concern themselves with anything else.

Two Baggers are very similar. They arrive on time, leave on time, and do the job of bagging for two register lines very competently. While on the job, they do what needs to be done very thoroughly. In time, they can rise into supervisory and middle management roles.

Now Three Baggers are a whole different animal - hard to tame, harder to contain.

Three Baggers come in early, leave late, look for extra work that needs to be done, put the job first even at quitting time. They make sure that all the lines have baggers and will stay late until the replacement shows up. They pitch in, in a pinch or a crisis, without being asked. They love their job and the company. They are your cheerleaders, your enthusiasts. These stars are going someplace. Don't hold them back. If you can, use those star qualities to advance your business.


After reading those three job descriptions: are you a One-bagger, a Two-bagger or a Three-bagger? And working for you, do you have One-baggers, Two- baggers or Three-baggers? And who do you want in those positions?

Now isn't it easier to remember the distinctions between these skill sets/character sets from a story than antiquated job descriptions? Try using stories and metaphors to make your point this week.


From Basics to Mastery

For all of us, emotional intelligence encompasses five basic areas of mastery. They are:

* Knowing your feelings and using them to make life decisions you can live with.

* Being able to manage your emotional life without being hijacked by it -- not being paralyzed by depression or worry, or swept away by anger.

* Persisting in the face of setbacks and channeling your impulses in order to pursue your goals.

* Empathy -- reading other people's emotions without their having to tell you what they are feeling.

* Handling feelings in relationships with skill and harmony -- being able to articulate the unspoken pulse of a group, for example.

The scope of these skills means there is indeed room for all of us to learn, grow, and improve. There is a lot to learn here. Learning about emotional intelligence, learning about the tools for energy efficiency; that's only the beginning. It's like reading all the books on sailing and small boat sailing. You then have the theory mastered, but you have no hands-on practice. It's only with practice that we gain mastery of anything. That's true of our feelings and emotions too!

The scope of these skills means there is indeed room for all of us to learn, grow, and improve. There is a lot to learn here. Learning about emotional intelligence, learning about the tools for energy efficiency; that's only the beginning. It's like reading all the books on sailing and small boat sailing. You then have the theory mastered, but you have no hands-on practice. It's only with practice that we gain mastery of anything. That's true of our feelings and emotions too!

How do you address so many broad areas?

- Assessment tools are a great way to learn to identify your emotions

- Energy efficiency tools are invaluable in helping you tap into inner wisdom and resources to manage your emotions and understand what the best choices are when you are making life decisions.

- Persistence can be learned. In fact, providing challenges and hardships to children, to give them an opportunity to develop persistence and stick-to-itiveness, is intrinsic in many cultures. Goal-setting and the 6 Most- Important-Things List are just two tools you can apply immediately.

- Developing empathy is powerful in critical business situations like a sales call, a closing, your management style, etc. Using your energy efficiency tools will allow you to pay attention to your instincts in this area instead of second-guessing yourself.

- Once you learn to be the manager of your feelings, it becomes an easy habit to apply in any business or personal relationship.

Mastery of all the basics does not occur overnight. But with practice it comes very quickly - just like learning to ride a bicycle. Once you experience how it's 'supposed to work', how energy efficiency is 'supposed to feel', it's easier and easier to reestablish in a variety of circumstances. That's where mastery is achieved. That's where you and everyone in your business benefit from your mastery.

Strategic Checklists

I've been through a couple of checklists in the past few days, and it's reaffirmed my faith in their effectiveness as a communication tool.

Now, there are at least a couple of ways we can look at checklists: in the strategic and tactical senses. You'll probably recognize the tactical advantages of using checklists: a clear and logical, as well as economical, way to write.

But, let's look at checklists from the strategic perspective today, and explore them as a tool for achieving our objectives.

Specifically, that means we'll think of using them to reinforce or change the perceptions of others. For example, if you write out information about something that has to be done, a checklist sends a couple of messages. First, that you're a well-organized person, and that your message is quite rational.

The creation of a checklist, in itself, should send a message that you've given more than cursory attention to the message. It implies that you've thought about the process you're asking others to follow. It also implies that you've taken extra time to compose your message; you've added value by adding additional structure.

The recipient of your message, then, should have the sense that you take the message seriously, because you've taken extra trouble to develop it in an orderly way. And, that kind of perception, in turn should make the recipient more willing to follow your instructions.

Having said all that, we should step back and ask ourselves where we can use checklists effectively. As I've written this article, I've asked myself if it shouldn't be in a checklist format. But, apparently not; at least I can't see how it work well.

That's because checklists work best for very linear kinds of information delivery. The instructions for starting a computer or piece of equipment, for example. In these cases, there's no room for nuance or fine distinctions. A switch turns on, or it turns off; we don't discuss the way the switch looks or sounds. So, think of checklists as tools for developing lists or describing sequential actions.

This context also leads to another strategic use for checklists, which is to ensure nothing is forgotten and nothing extra goes into the instructions. Make a checklist of the steps involved in a process and you have a tool for seeing that it stays on track.

You can also use checklists for inclusion and exclusion. For example, when I travel, I print a packing checklist to make sure I pack the things I need, and perhaps just as important, don't pack items I don't need.

In this case, the checklist also acts a memory jogging tool. Having started on the packing list, some non-list items may be recalled. For example, if I make a note to include a magazine to read on the plane, then I might also remember to stop delivery of the newspapers while I'm away. That's then something new to add to the next iteration of the checklist.

Strategic Importance of Business Plans in Today's Technological Driven Marketplace

Business Plans Are More Essential than Ever

         As the pace of competition has accelerated, product life cycles have shrunk.
         It used to take 8 to 10 years to design and build a car.
        Now it can be in less than a year and half.
         Windows of opportunity open and close with blinding speed; and customers, who are constantly being wooed by the competition, are more demanding than ever.
         Some people will advise you that it is impossible to plan for the future and thus business plans are irrelevant and a waste of time.
          In fact, in this era the exact opposite is true. It is now more important than ever before to have a battle plan during what might, in retrospect, be viewed as "peacetime.”.
           Planning and preparation are required for your   financial as well as your company's survival. No one is saying, "The world is more uncertain for you now, so plans are no longer relevant." The truth is that planning and that planning skills are now   most  important and more vital  than ever. In this regard, businesses are no different from individuals.
             Success in this super competitive era depends on making very clear business plans and statements. Winners develop a vision of where they intend to be going, and this blueprint will allow them the flexibility to respond appropriately when the unexpected occurs...
             The basics of it all are that by not planning you limit your options and flexibility greatly .

                  WHAT'S DIFFERENT ABOUT Business   planning now?
                Good business plans require different attributes. The networking revolution created by the Web for business-to-business activities and business-to-consumer products and services has offered new opportunities but has created a very different business environment.
                  There are essentially only three central tenets that are a part of business plans:
               1. A focus on speed in all of its manifestations
               2. The integration of the Web into the core of what the company does
               3. A focus on how the company adds value for its customers

THE IMPORTANCE
OF PLANNING FOR SPEED
          Planning is the essential element in the competitive battleground, and speed is the central weapon. Like all artillery, speed is an asset when a company is able to employ it in building its own business; it is a liability when an "armed" competitor is moving like lightning to undermine that core business. And whether it's being used for or against you, the ever-present element that must be factored into your plans.
There is a great need and reward for “Speed”.  Planning for speed involves an even broader  view.  To be successful you should take on the widest possible focus on speed and create your  businesses accordingly.
         Build your plans with the following in mind:
• The speed with which you need to bring a product to market
• The speed with which your competitors might introduce a competitive product
• The speed required to improve existing products and bring enhancement (or future generations) of your t product to market
• The speed with which the industry, because of the Internet, could potentially be transformed
When these factors are fully integrated into a business culture, they lead to a clear way of determining the intensity at which to approach the market:
         1). Faster, better, cheaper. . .
It's getting repetitive, but if a product is faster, better, or cheaper on the Web, companies need to exploit it immediately
        2). Get your feet wet now so that you'll be prepared to swim hard
Very soon.
        Even if your competitors aren't there yet, start exploring what the Net can do for your business
      3.) Planned evolution is vital.
          If you  that have the capability to rapidly evolve your  products you  will find it easier to stay ahead of your e competition, and developing this capability must be a goal of yours  in itself.
.
     6). you cannot waste time being concerned about  Cannibalization.
Worry about "cannibalization" (creating one product to replace another) assumes that a company owns a market and has time to leave a product in the marketplace until the company is ready to replace it with something new. Smart planners  realize that this is an outmoded way of thinking. The new breed of winners in most industries  assume that the competition is right at their heels and any competitive advantage they have is fleeting. As a result, they  worry about hurting sales of an existing product by bringing out a new one.
         Be  much more concerned with constantly driving to stay ahead of the competition.
Some brick-and-mortar companies have found it more difficult than others to let go of the "old way" and are sometimes less nimble than newcomers. To survive, they will need to find ways of eliminating excess baggage.
        You will be  “ Ahead of the  the  game .”
          If you recognize the need for online success and can establish your operation, with an independent management style then you that can have the freedom and resources to win in a today’s environment.
     You will certainly be rewarded.
.
      THE IMPORTANCE OF ADDING VALUE
     Lastly A good business plan should also answer this question: "In the evolving competitive arena, how does my product or service add value?" Focus on this issue and act on your findings and you are most likely to develop successful plans to which the customers remain loyal.
      This is certainly an integral most basic  concept which your Grandmother would of insisted  on  .

Strategic Planning And Resources

Resource Planning: Before the Strategic Plan can be finally agreed and implemented, the leader(s) must ensure that there will be sufficient resources available for each activity at each stage of the plan. In reality the planning for the provision of resources must be viewed as a critical element of the plan itself. The strategic plan and the objectives within it will not be achieved if the activities needed to carry out the plan are not properly supported by appropriate resources.

Resources Forecast: A resources forecast should be carried out. All planned activities, stages, and objectives, should be analysed for resource requirements (resources as in the list below). If the forecast identifies areas where the available or deliverable resources do not match the levels required, then this must be corrected or the plan must be altered. Once the leader(s) can be satisfied that the necessary resources will be available, the plan can be finalised and implemented with confidence.

Prioritising Resources: It is tempting to rank these resources, perhaps arguing that human resources, and accompanying expertise and experience should be the highest on the list, but this is not logical. Lack of, or inadequate, financial, physical, or systems resources for any one of the many activities, or at any stage of the plan, can be as damaging as not having the required human resources. It is also tempting to think of resources as only human, financial, or physical, and also as coming only from internal sources. Again, this is not appropriate, as the strategic plan needs support from other areas, internally and externally, that should also be described as resources, such as systems, policies, suppliers, external stakeholders.

Organisational Infrastructure: The shape and complexity of the organisational structure should be designed to serve the strategic direction taken. A structure that is as flexible, dynamic, and responsive a structure as possible is essential. In some business sectors, for example in many parts of the public sector, there will be constraints and barriers that will dictate a more bureaucratic and rigid structure that limits responsiveness and flexibility. Much of this may be unavoidable, but it should be continually challenged and loosened where possible. In most other sectors there is no excuse. The leaders of organisations in commercially driven sectors, and this now includes education, health, charities, and the utilities, must strive to structure their organisations so that they can respond to the fast pace and continual changes of today’s business world.

Systems, Policies, Procedures: In functional areas such as IT, Finance, HR and Personnel, Performance Appraisal and Reward, Conditions of Employment, Working Patterns, Training and Development, the systems, policies, and procedures must be operating in support of the strategic plan and the accompanying operational activities. An appropriate Quality Assurance Management System should be in place, guided by the strategic objectives, constantly monitoring the quality standards of all the systems, including its own, to ensure that they are not hindering or damaging the chances of achieving the strategic objectives.

Location: For most organisations the location is not easily changeable, and would not normally be challenged. But the leader(s) must look at the current location in terms of its strategic suitability. If the location is not supportive to the strategies, then alternatives must at least be explored. If moving to a more appropriate location is logistically and financially possible, then that relocation should take place at the earliest opportunity.

Front-line Physical Resources: For manufacturing organisations this will encompass production facilities, plant, equipment, and so on. For service sector organisations this will mean the physical resources at the point of sale and-or delivery points. The condition and capacity of physical resources in these areas must be able to meet the operational demands dictated by the strategies.

Support Functions Physical Resources: For most organisations this means activity areas such as procurement, design, research and development, administration, finance, human resources, maintenance, marketing, sales, distribution, and so on.

Managers in front-line and support areas must focus on achieving the operational objectives that have been derived from the strategic plans. The leader(s) must implement a system of regular performance appraisal and consultation to ensure that these areas are resourced appropriately and operated effectively.

Suppliers: A key resource, but because they are outside the organisation, are often forgotten. The quality of supplies, be they raw materials, equipment, parts, consumables, people, or advisory services, is a critical factor in the capability of the organisation. If inputs are not of the right quality then costs can rise, damage can be caused, delays can occur, and the operational performance of the organisation could suffer. In turn, the achievement of the strategic objectives of the organisation could be delayed or damaged.

Human Resources: The question that the leader(s) must ask is whether the quality, quantity, and distribution of the human resources within the organisation, is sufficient to satisfy the needs of the chosen strategies. Existing staffing levels, degrees of expertise and experience, flexibility, distribution, predicted wastage or turnover, are all areas that need analysing. Intangible factors, such as levels of morale, motivation, cultural attitudes, should also be evaluated. A human resources audit must be carried out and where gaps or weaknesses are identified these must be corrected, and brought up to the required levels.

Financial Resources: In simple terms, the leader(s) must be satisfied that the funding, the cash-flows, the budgets, will meet the demands of the activities. If necessary, and affordable, additional funding must be obtained, linking this resource need to external stakeholders as discussed below, such as banks, shareholders, and other investors.

Marketing and Distribution: whatever the product or service that the organisation is offering, the marketing and distribution functions are as important, if not more so, than any other internal function. Without revenue, whether from customer sales, grants, government funds, or other sources, the organisation must persuade the purchaser, or provider, to deliver revenue to it. This revenue will be a critical element of the financial resources needed to support the planned activity, and the continued flow of this revenue must be protected. This entails ensuring that the marketing and distribution function is itself appropriately funded.

External Stakeholders: This group of resource sources includes shareholders, investors and other funding organisations discussed in the section on Financial Resources. These need to be managed and informed appropriately. Other stakeholders could, depending on the nature of the business, include the local authorities, public services, local and-or national media, trade unions, local residents, national or  international governments, national  or international trade organisations, business partners, and so on. Where the support of any external stakeholder is identified as important to the success of the strategic plan, then effort and energy should be spent on building and maintaining a positive relationship with them. Maintaining positive relationships with external stakeholders is essential, as they are a vital resource in supporting the organisation’s strategic direction.

Intangible Resources: These include goodwill, reputation, and brands. Individually and collectively these can be important to the success of the strategic plan. Goodwill is a value given to the reputation, the customer loyalty, the brand values, and in some cases the public image of the organisation. In monetary terms it is the difference in saleable value, or total value, between the tangible assets value given to the business and the actual value that a buyer would pay or an investor would calculate when deciding to invest or not. Reputation that the organisation has amongst its competitors, with its customers, in the public psyche, and although difficult to calculate, is also valuable. Brands can be highly valuable, as demonstrated by some of the best known, which generate immediate positive responses throughout the world.These intangible assets are resources, with a value, which the strategic plan will have considered and made use of, or planned to protect, or develop, as part of the plan. The leader(s) must ensure that these resources, these assets, are managed effectively and support the strategic plan as intended.

Management: The effectiveness of the individuals and teams that make up the management of the organisation are critical to the success of the chosen strategies. Without an effective management network supporting the planned activity and striving to achieve the strategic and operational objectives, the strategies will fail. As discussed in an earlier article, the leader(s) must put in place an effective management network, and ensure that this highly valuable resource is itself resourced appropriately.

The Operational Employees: Sadly this resource, this group of people, is often overlooked when the achievement of strategic objectives is discussed. Wrongly, it is assumed that objectives can be achieved as long as there is good management, good leadership, and appropriate financial and physical resources in place. Not true. Unless the workforce is appropriately skilled, experienced, qualified, continuously developed, and committed to support the achievement of the strategic plans, then the plans will fail. It is critical that the operational employees, in all functional areas, are involved, informed, and persuaded to support the strategic plan. The role of the leader(s) here is to ensure that the management team makes this happen.

Leadership: The final resource that we look at is the leadership of the organisation. The role of the leader(s) is to lead the organisation into the future, in a direction and a condition that will ensure that the organisation is successful. Whichever direction is chosen and whatever the measure of success is, the leader(s) must make certain that the strategic plan is appropriately resourced at every stage and in every activity area. In addition, the leader(s) must ensure that they lead the organisation in an appropriate manner, adopting an appropriate style of leadership for each stage of the journey that the strategic plan is leading the organisation into.

In Summary: At the start of this article it was stated that it was not logical to prioritise, or rank, the resources needed to support the strategic plan. The range of resources is broad and diverse, and all should be treated as equally important. Each stage and each activity area must be resourced appropriately, otherwise serious damage can be done to the chances of the plans being successfully implemented. However, there is one exception to this rule, and that is regarding Leadership. The leader(s) must ensure that the plan is resourced appropriately and then accept responsibility for being the most critical resource of all. Without the essential resource of effective leadership, regardless of how well other resources are provided and applied, the plans will fail.

Strategic Planning In The Business World

Strategic planning is a method of planning events in a strategic manner in order to accomplish the goal at hand. This type of planning works by looking at the whole picture and you then figure out how you are to get from one place to another. Probably the most important example of strategic planning is that which is done in the military. In this example, we could say that the strategy is to overtake an area while the tactical planning is how you will fight each battle. The strategy is the plan to get through the whole picture.

Now, take this to the leaf of business strategic planning. Strategic planning can work in a number of ways in a business environment. For example, you may want to make a plan to get the business from one level to the next. Depending on what that is, you can make a plan that the business will follow to achieve the end results. Here are some ways in which this type of planning can be put into place.

• Financial aspects such as profit, loss, increasing sales or lowering costs.

• In human resources, you can devise a strategic plan to recruit new hires, to promote individuals, to staff a location quickly.

• Also, you can use strategic planning in your business marketing plans. How you will market, where you will market, and how much you will spend in those areas are all determined through the strategic planning.

Like any other things in business, though, you also have to have back ups when it comes to your strategic plan not working. This will help you to find the right choices each time. Because you will have something in place to handle things when they go bad, you will feel more confident about your plans. Strategic planning is something that any company or business can use quite effectively.

Strategic Planning Steps For Optimum Business Management

Strategic Planning Steps Overview

The Strategic Planning Steps philosophy/business system is an organizational tool that is used by groups and corporations globally to refine their goals and maximize their resources. Drawing from the concepts of strategic military planning, the Strategic Planning process is one way in which businesses strive to attain a competitive edge. Strategic planning involves defining goals, creating an adaptable business plan and measuring core competencies of staff to increase productivity and results. The understanding and implementation of Strategic Planning Steps can significantly affect a company's ability to maximize revenue and growth. The steps have been used effectively in many fields of business, education and government to formulate productive business systems and resource management solutions.

Strategic Planning Steps Defined

While there are several different approaches to implementing Strategic Planning Steps , most models use the following definitions:

* Mission definition : The mission definition stage of Strategic Planning encourages an organization to develop a brief description of purpose to Inform potential stockholders, employees and customers what they can expect from the company. From the mission definition, a mission statement can be developed that serves as a company's calling card and core focus description.

* Vision/Trend Analysis : The next facet of Strategic Planning Steps directs a company to analyze current market trends and make committed decisions about where the business is heading. Defining long term goals and visualizing the future of the organization can help to focus current activities and important financial decisions.

* Strategic Objectives : Once long term goals have been set, the strategic objectives phase consists of formulating actual business plans to achieve the visualized goals. One acronym used frequently in this stage of Strategic Planning Steps is SMART. SMART stands for the type of objectives to be developed to fully realize the company's long term goals. These objectives include:

o S – Specific objectives

o M – Measurable objectives

o A – Achievable objectives

o R – Resource-based, realistic objectives

o T – Time-frame assessed objectives

* Critical Success Factors : Important milestones and achievements key to goal realization should be identified at the critical success factor stage of Strategic Planning. Singling out these factors provides an easy means for measuring the ongoing success of the business plan.

* Actions to be Implemented : After critical success factors have been identified, the next phase involves the development of action plans need to realize success. Specific tasks and organizations management strategies are designed to effectively implement the business plan. Task management is often defined by the core competencies required for each position in the company.

* Performance Analysis and Progress Measurement : The last of the most common steps is comprised of formulating methods by which to measure the organization's progress. Comprehensive performance analysis tools and measurement criteria are developed to effectively monitor the success of the current system. These tools can be used to report both internally and externally on the progress and growth of the company.

Strategy As Invention

Rather than view strategy as a selection of options, here is another approach: creation or invention.

Strategic planning is not strategy

Strategic Planning, often synonymous with Annual Planning, details how you are going to get where you have decided to go. It is a description of how you will achieve your goals -- those milestones you established in structuring your business plan. Strategic Planning is operational in nature, it examines the particular actions you intend to take over the coming period. Strategic Planning can be critical -- and after you have a Strategy, it is often a good idea to develop a Strategic Plan.

But Strategic Planning is not Strategy. Strategy is the "what" you and your organization are going to be, and the broad approach to how you are going to do that. For instance, your company will become the number one vendor of internet-hosted medical records applications, achieved through freeware distribution to HMOs and clinics, paid for with a back-end, per-patient royalty. Strategic Planning looks at the details of how you will get there -- which associations you will joint-venture with, how many sales people you will add this year, what type of advertising you will use, whether to pay for page-views or click-throughs, etc. The strategic plan will itemize the specific actions you will take in a given time frame, and the specific results those actions will produce.

But imagine filling your new car with gas, turning the ignition key, putting the car in gear, getting on the freeway, and putting the pedal-to-the-metal. Full speed ahead. Imagine that for a moment. Wait a minute -- where are you going? Many organizations jump headlong into the strategic planning process, without becoming clear about where they are going. Sure they have a direction - North, perhaps; into the Internet Applications space, perhaps. If you execute the plan, your company will surely wind up somewhere. But is it where you wanted to go? Strategy defines the destination, and whether you will take a scenic way or a fast way, and if you want rest stops. Strategic planning identifies the specific highways and the specific streets.

Have you bothered to think about where you want to go recently? Most entrepreneurs, most companies, started with an idea of what they were trying to create. But that may have been a long time ago. Perhaps it's time to consider this question again.

Strategy is not a set of options

Imagine you are in your car again. This time, it's Sunday, and you and the family are going for a drive. Where are you headed? "We'll let's see", you say to yourself, "How much gas do we have, and which roads have the least traffic?" Many companies think strategy is about evaluating a set of options, often in terms of available resources, or a competitive response. They say things like -- "We have only 12 development resources available to us, which means we can bring two key program feature sets to market, and XYZ Co. has just announced compatibility with our databases. What are we going to do?"

Strategy is not incrementalism or inertia

Or they consider strategy in terms of increments. Last year you increased profits by 20%; does that mean this year you should shoot for increasing profits by 20%. Or 25%? Or, since you added three new modules last year, and reduced customer response time by 33%, should you plan to do the same, or something a bit better, this year?

These would be worthy goals, and this approach is valid. But accomplishing these kinds of targets will not fundamentally alter your company's relationship to the marketplace. Nothing will really be changed -- not you, not your people, not your company -- and not the world.

It's been said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results. When you do the same things, only better, only harder, only more, only smarter, what you'll get is more of what you've already got. That's fine, as long as you've determined that more of what you've got is appropriate for this stage of your company's life cycle.

Strategy is an invention

Strategy is something you make up. Your strategy is a statement of what you will do as a company to realize your corporate vision: what specifically will you accomplish, what meaning will your company have, and how will you create value and profits. Don't ignore your past results. Just don't allow your strategy to be constrained by them. Don't ignore the marketplace. Just don't fall into the trap of letting your competitors' actions define what yours will be. And certainly don't ignore your customers -- just don't think that your customers' wants and desires are the only measure of what you should seek to accomplish. These references -- past results, markets, competitors, customers - must be taken into account.

And then, what it boils down to is this: your strategy is the direction your company will take, because you said so.

An invented strategy inspires you. Because it fulfills your vision for your company, and because you see how the realization of your strategy makes an important difference in the world, it inspires your team, your customers, your prospects. An invented strategy energizes all your constituents, where incrementalism just seems like more work. An invented strategy can propel your enterprise to greatness. An invented strategy can call forth achievements beyond what you currently consider possible. Breakthroughs and blockbusters are never founded on incremental improvement. Like Athena, they spring from the heads of their inventors. And invented strategies can change your company's relationship to the marketplace and to the world.

Inventing strategy

The route to creating strategy is simple -- asking the right questions.

What direction can the company take *now* to realize your vision? What value proposition will you offer customers? What meaningful difference will you make in your marketplace? What meaningful difference will you make in your world? How do you want to affect the lives of your people, your customers, your clients? Your family? Answer these questions and you are on road to inventing your strategy.

Are you building something totally new, or are you improving an existing idea? What are the dimensions of the impact you want to have? Will it be faster? Better? Cheaper? Easier? Safer? More luxurious? More convenient? More portable? More entertaining? More universal?

Next, from a high-level perspective, how will you marshal your resources and time your maneuvers to offer that value and make that difference? For instance, Microsoft's desktop applications strategy is to let other companies originate product categories, wait to see which ones catch on, then bring out a lower cost Microsoft alternative, and market the heck out of it. This strategy defines a what, not a how. It doesn't describe which products, how to develop them, or when they will be rolled-out.

There are no rules in strategy

Strategy is not evolutionary; it is revolutionary. Don't assume the old rules apply or let them guide your thinking. Breaking rules may actually be a way to conceive of strategy. Ask yourself, "What rules can we break?" Consider which obsolete beliefs restrain growth in your company or in your market. Make up your own assumptions. Test them -- first in your mind. Einstein conceived of the Theory of Relativity using what he called a gedanken experiment -- an experiment in the mind.

Don't worry about implementation...yet

While you are considering Strategy, don't worry about whether you have the wherewithal to implement what you are thinking about. If you do worry in this way, you are likely to compromise from the get-go. There will be plenty of room for compromise later, if you must. Ignore the resource constraints which dog you throughout the year. You will deal with these when the time comes. Author Gary Hamil suggests that one definition of strategy include the "...quest to overcome resource constraints through a creative and unending pursuit of better resource leverage."

I have my strategy. Now what?

Okay. At some point soon, you must consider implementation. Once you have formulated a strategy you believe will make a difference and lead to greater returns, you have to figure out how to make it happen given all the constraints you operate under. That is where the Strategic and Tactical Planning comes in. That's the next article.

Strategy Cycle

The strategy cycle is a simple tool that will help you to achieve the goals of your organisation. Consisting of four main phases, the cycle is an iterative process that you can use to build and improve your business year after year.

Research

Successful business relies on informed decision making. Managers with access to information on the market, competitors and their own business will be better placed to set goals and devise strategies, than those who are less well informed.

Larger organisations often have business intelligence units, specifically tasked with the collection and analysis of data, but there is nothing to stop managers from smaller businesses from spending a couple of hours each month collecting their own business intelligence.

Often a manager's personal knowledge and experience of the market can be just as effective as expensive research studies and decisions are made through 'market sensing' as opposed to 'market research'.

As the strategy cycle is an iterative process, the results of previous strategies should feed into the business intelligence, along with any important experiences or key learning's gained.

Planning

After analysing the business intelligence to identify the most important internal and external factors affecting the organisation, managers can begin to formulate appropriate strategies for meeting their goals.

Organisational goals are the aspirations that the business seeks to achieve. These generally revolve around growing the business and increasing profitability, but can also be industry specific, such as a technology company wanting to become the leading innovator.

To make these goals possible, managers set objectives which provide a more tangible destination for the business to move towards.

For example, a business seeking market leadership would probably set objectives around increasing sales and reducing costs. It would then be up to the heads of finance, marketing, HR, R&D and production to develop strategies to achieve these objectives.

A strategy can be described as a collection of activities that will enable the organisation to reach it's objective. A cost reduction strategy may involve staff redundancies, renegotiation of contractual terms with suppliers and the development of more efficient supply chains.

Throughout the planning process, managers should constantly consult with other heads of department and with employees further down the line who will be responsible for implementing the strategy activities.

Without suitable levels of communication, the different parts of the business will not be able to take an integrated approach towards the objectives, often resulting in duplication of effort or inability to deliver to customers.

A good example of this would be the marketing department implementing a campaign to increase sales, without informing the production department, who will not have had enough time to prepare for the increased level of demand.

Other important factors to consider during the planning process include:

-- Determining how the success of the strategy will be measured
-- Outlining the key milestones and stating when these will be achieved
-- Financial planning to agree appropriate budgets for each activity within the strategy
-- Undertaking a risk assessment and identifying ways to mitigate major risks
-- Establishing an approval and sign-off process for each activity


Implementation

Strategy implementation involves the delivery of a number of inter-related activities to an agreed standard and schedule. This is often referred to as project management.

To successfully deliver projects, managers need to have good communication, financial and time management skills, so that they can liaise with staff, contractors and customers (both internal and external), whilst ensuring the project remains on schedule and within budget.

In larger organisations there may be a number of inter-related projects taking place in order to meet an objective. This is often referred to as programme management, with a programme board regularly monitoring each project to ensure it is delivering.

As each milestone activity in the strategy is completed, it should be reviewed and signed-off by designated managers. Activities that are not delivered to time or quality should be reviewed to understand why and corrective action undertaken to try and get the delivery of the strategy back on track.

Measurement

Once implementation of the strategy is complete, it is important to assess the degree to which it enabled the objective to be achieved. Without proper measurement it will be difficult to accurately understand what worked and what improvements might be needed for future strategies.

The method of measuring the strategy should be closely related to the objective that was set. Therefore an organisation whose objective was to increase sales turnover, would use the increase (or decrease) in actual sales as one of its measurements.

On some occasions it will not always be possible to use internal data to measure strategy success, especially for less tangible factors such as brand awareness. In these cases it will be necessary to seek external data in the form of market research surveys and opinion polls.

Study Reveals Disconnects Between Employers And Employees

A serious talent shortage looms in the U.S., and a new comprehensive study indicates that many employers aren't taking the steps necessary to retain and attract employees.

The recent Emerging Workforce Study, conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of Spherion Corporation, reveals a troubling gap between employers and employees on critical workplace issues. For the first time, the study was expanded to include data from employers, allowing Spherion to provide a more complete picture of the employment landscape.

Some of the major findings of the study include the fact that 60 percent of workers rate time and flexibility as very important factors in retention, but only 35 percent of employers feel the same. Additionally, 49 percent of employers rate financial compensation as a very important driver of retention, while 69 percent of workers believe it is.

"There's no doubt that talent will be a defining success factor for companies in the years to come," said Roy Krause, Spherion president and chief executive officer. "Our latest Study sheds light on how differently employers and employees view workplace issues, and it is imperative that organizations understand these disconnects and make adjustments to their leadership styles and HR policies."

Furthermore, many companies either don't have or don't plan to implement work/life balance programs-a hot button issue for employees. Of the companies surveyed, 61 percent stated they don't plan to offer job sharing, 56 percent don't plan to offer telecommuting and 33 percent don't plan to offer flextime.

There is a small percentage of organizations that have realized such disconnects and are distinguishing themselves as employers of choice. These emergent employers not only offer work/life balance and training programs, but have the management style and workforce structure that helps them attract and retain the most talented workers. Studies have also shown that implementing such HR best practices will result in better financial performance and company growth.

"We applaud innovative efforts of emergent organizations such as Nationwide and Ernst and Young. These organizations are clearly in a class of their own and are putting themselves in a position to truly succeed in the upcoming battle for talent," Krause added.

Successful Documentation Projects – Part 1 of 3 – ‘Understanding’

The creation of user documentation is a big component of any software project. Unfortunately, it’s often undervalued and left to the last minute. But that doesn’t mean it should be without a good management plan.

This is the first in a series of three articles outlining the key elements of a good user documentation process. It’s kind of an “ideal” process; very few projects will be able to implement every step, and some will require additional steps. Nonetheless, it should provide you with a good foundation (especially if you’re new to user documentation management).

Here’s an overview of the three articles.

Article 1 (this article) – Understand

• Identify your scope
• Familiarise yourself with the work environment
• Familiarise yourself with the product
• Identify the audience for the documentation
• Specify perceived audience requirements
• Roughly estimate doco project duration and resources
• Research audience requirements

Article 2 – Specify (See http://www.divinewrite.com/docoprocess2.htm)

• State your goals
• Write your concept specifications
• Design some possible implementations
• Conduct usability testing on your prototypes
• Write your requirements specifications
• Estimate project duration & resources
• Conduct usability testing on your writing sample
• Write your work pracs & design specs

Article 3 – Write (see http://www.divinewrite.com/docoprocess3.htm)

• Write the doco
• Manage production

So here goes…

Understand Your Project

Identify Your Scope

The first step in any project is to identify exactly what you’re expected to do.  Generally this will happen before you take on the job, but it should still be the first thing that you document.  Identifying your scope involves figuring out where you fit in the overall development process and where you fit within the company.  No documentation project is ever just documentation, so it’s important to know exactly what else is involved.  Some of the other areas that documentation people are/should be commonly be involved in include:

• Spec review
• GUI review
• Product user requirements research
• Documentation audience requirements research
• Usability testing

All of these things are integral to the development process, and should be scheduled properly.

Familiarise Yourself with the Work Environment

Get to know everyone involved in the product. For a software project, this will mean the project manager, the designers, and the guys that will be doing the low-level coding.  Try to have a really good relationship with them.  They have to respect you, otherwise they’re not going to listen to much of what you have to say.

Familiarise Yourself with the Product

Find out what’s going to be involved in the product.  You must know:

• what are the goals of the development
• what user requirements they are trying to meet
• how the product will be used
• who will be using it
• what the features of the product are
• how the product will look and feel
• will it require a specific doco design?  For instance, it may only run on the latest version of Windows, it may have a particular look and feel, a particular environment (that the help may have to be integrated into), etc.

These are all things that you may have input into, either through simple critique, or through input into user research requirements. Try to read as much documentation as you can find, and interview as many people stakeholders as possible. As you go, note down any issues you identify, any questions you have, or anything you think needs to be different.

Some (non-human) sources that you can utilise to achieve this include:

• Feature and product specifications
• Project plans
• Funding application documentation if applicable

Identify the Audience for the Documentation

Discuss with the project manager (and other stakeholders esp. marketing) the perceived user/audience.

Specify Perceived Audience Requirements

Make some educated guesses about audience requirements so you’ll be able to provide a rough estimate of product duration and resource requirements.

Discuss with the project manager (and other stakeholders esp. marketing) the perceived user requirements that the help must satisfy.  See if someone has researched user goals, tasks, and the mental models users employ when using the product (or similar products). If they haven’t, interview inhouse experts to identify perceived goals, tasks, mental models, etc.

Secondly, you should identify what the theory says about user documentation (i.e. documentation approach, visual considerations, indexing considerations, etc.). I recommend Minimalism Beyond the Nurnberg Funnel, (1998) edited by John M. Carroll.

Roughly estimate doco project duration and resources

Although, by this stage, you don’t really know enough about the product or your audience requirements to know how long the documentation will take to complete, management will nonetheless like a rough estimate.  This is OK, as long as everyone is aware that it is a VERY rough estimate, and subject to change pending further knowledge and research.

This initial estimate must incorporate all of the time you’ll spend on the stages that occur before and after the writing stage. Remember, these stages are important, and should not be short-changed.  (TIP: In a well managed project, planning should take approx 30% of your time, writing 50%, production 19%, and evaluation 1%.)

Estimating pre-writing stages

Allowing for the pre-writing stages is trickier than allowing for writing.  If you’re having trouble, estimate the writing stage, then base all other estimates on that, using the above figures as a guide.

Estimating writing and post-writing stages

Because you probably still don’t know a great deal about the product or the users, your estimate here will be based primarily on a combination of past records, experience, intuition (gut feel), and industry standards in combination with the goals and tasks you’ve already specified.  Start with the following steps.

1. Estimate the quantity of work required to document the tasks the user will need to perform to achieve their goals.
2. Track down any previous doco records.  See if you can cross reference the time taken to produce similar doco in the past with the current quantity estimate.  Derive a figure based on this method.
3. See how this compares with the estimate derived from industry standard figures (e.g., I think the current industry standard is to allow 1 day per page of documentation – this covers all drafts and reviews).
4. Compare the two figures and determine a good compromise based on your experience and intuition.
5. Figure out how long you actually have to do it, then how many writers you’ll need to get it done during this time.
6. Draw up a project schedule using something like Microsoft Project.  Don’t forget to allow time for recruiting, training, and writing work practices.

TIP: At this stage, you should write the first draft of the Documentation Project Plan.  It should include or refer to all of the steps outlined in this document.  Basically, it should reflect the process advocated here, but be specific to the project you’re working on.  It should also include a timeline.

Research Audience Requirements

Research on the users of the product and the audience of the documentation is one of the most important parts of any successful product.  Unfortunately, it is also one of the most often overlooked aspects of any project.  This generally occurs because decision makers feel they already know pretty much everything there is to know about the users and audience.

When managing a documentation project, you should investigate the chance of conducting research.  If you’re employed late in the product life cycle, you should ask if user research has already been conducted for the product itself.  If it hasn’t, there’s a good chance you won’t get support for audience research.

Audience research should seek to identify:

• user goals (what the user hopes to achieve with the product)
• user expectations of the doco (Manuals? Online help? Tutorials?, usability requirements, localisation requirements, etc.)
• user mental models (how they already see online help, what impressions they have of it, etc.)
• user tasks (how the user uses the product to achieve their goals)
• which users perform what tasks (user/task matrix)
• how long have users been doing these tasks?
• which tasks are one-off and which are repeated?
• did they ever do them differently?
• do they do a variety of tasks, or just a few?
• do they hate doing it?  (is it tedious, repetitive?)
• do they find it difficult?
• which tasks are considered essential?
• are they normally under pressure when they do the task?
• are there other distractions (environmental, social, etc.)?

Some research methods to consider are:

• Observation of users doing their work in their work environment
• Focus groups and interviews with users
• Questionnaires

TIP: For further details on these methods, take a look at Managing Your Documentation Projects by Hackos (1994), User and Task Analysis for Interface Design by Hackos & Redish (1998), Social Marketing: New Imperative for Public Health by Manoff (1985), Designing Qualitative Research 2nd Edition by Marshall & Rossman (1995), and “Conducting Focus Groups – A Guide for First-Time Users”, in Marketing Intelligence and Planning by Tynan & Drayton (1988).

To be continued… See part 2 of this article (http://www.divinewrite.com/docoprocess2.htm) for information on preparing your specifications.

Successful Documentation Projects – Part 2 of 3 – ‘Specifying’

So you’re responsible for managing a documentation project. You know who your audience is, what they’re trying to achieve, how the product enables them to achieve it, and what the audience requires of the help. Now it’s time to spec out your intentions.

NOTE: This is the second in a series of three articles outlining the key elements of a good user documentation process. (To read the first and third articles in this series, go to http://www.divinewrite.com/docoprocess1.htm and http://www.divinewrite.com/docoprocess3.htm.)

State your goals

Generically speaking, your goal statement should indicate that you hope to create a suite of documentation products that will satisfy audience requirements.  Specifically, you’ll have a number of sub-goals. (TIP: It may help to remember that the goals you set here will need to be used to measure the success of your product through your own in-house testing as well as through evaluative user research.)  Such sub-goals may include:

• Ease of use
• Accessibility
• Helpfulness
• Accuracy
• Relevance
• Comprehensiveness
• Adherence to style guidelines
• Correct spelling and punctuation

Write your Concept Specifications

Your goals set, you can start to contemplate what you’re going to produce.  The first step is to create some concept specifications.  Simply put, concepts specs are very high level overviews of what you’re proposing to produce.  For example, your concept spec for the online help might state that you will be producing a product that allows the user to access information using a TOC, an Index, and a Find.  It might suggest some possible GUI features of these elements, but it will not lay down requirements; just possibilities.  The concept spec for your manuals might state that they will be professional looking, will contain many professionally drawn pictures, will have adequate white space, will be stylish, will be divided into chapters to match the task oriented nature of the online help, etc.

Generally, the product you’re proposing could be implemented in a number of different ways. You should write one or more concept spec(s) for:

• what components the documentation suite will consist of (online help, printed manuals, tutorials, overviews, etc.) – “Documentation Products Concept Specification”
• the types of information your documentation will contain (e.g., the structure of the TOC, are you going to follow minimalism practices?) – “Documentation Content Concept Specification”
• the functionality and user interface of your documentation suite (e.g., how it will work and how the audience will interact with it) – “Online Help User Interface Concept Specification”, “Printed Documentation User Interface Concept Specification”, etc.
• the delivery method (how you will deliver the help to users and how you’ll update it)
• what languages the documentation will be produced in

Design some possible implementations

Now that you’ve decided roughly what you’d like to produce, you can design some possible implementations of it.  Your designs will be very high level and they may not actually work (they may actually be just paper prototypes).

With most other considerations already finalised through your user requirements research, these implementations should only differ as a result of:

• the technologies behind them
• the tools used to create them
• the overall look and feel

You need to learn as much as possible about these things, in order to determine what is actually possible, successful, effective, etc.  You should be aware of current trends, literature, white papers, etc.  This information can be obtained from a variety of sources.  Some good places to start include:

• List servers
• Conferences
• Books
• Other publications
• Other writers
• Other products

Conduct usability testing on your prototypes

Model (prototype) your designs for the decision makers and audience samples.  This allows you to pick the best features from each design (and to determine priorities for them).  Select a design (or merge multiple designs) that you believe best satisfies user requirements.  This process may be iterative.  At the end of this stage, you should know enough to detail exactly what you’ll be producing (including what help platform and tool you’ll be using).

TIP: For details on possible research methods, take a look at Managing Your Documentation Projects by Hackos (1994) esp. pp.446-447, User and Task Analysis for Interface Design by Hackos & Redish (1998), Social Marketing: New Imperative for Public Health by Manoff (1985), Designing Qualitative Research 2nd Edition by Marshall & Rossman (1995), and “Conducting Focus Groups – A Guide for First-Time Users”, in Marketing Intelligence and Planning by Tynan & Drayton (1988).

Write your Requirements Specifications

Requirements specifications detail exactly what you must end up with.  These specifications should contain as much detail as possible about the features and functionality of the documentation product (not how you’ll go about building it).

Requirements specs are basically an evolution of your concept specs.  Once you begin work on your requirements specs, the concept specs are effectively frozen.  You should write one or more concept spec(s) for:

• what components the documentation suite will consist of (online help, printed manuals, tutorials, overviews, etc.) – “Documentation Products Requirements Specification”
• the types of information your documentation will contain (e.g., the structure of the TOC, are you going to follow minimalism practices?) – “Documentation Content Requirements Specification”
• the functionality and user interface of your documentation suite (e.g., how it will work and how the audience will interact with it) – “Online Help User Interface Requirements Specification”, “Printed Documentation User Interface Requirements Specification”, etc.
• the delivery method (how you will deliver the help to users and how you’ll update it)
• what languages the documentation will be produced in

Estimate Project Duration & Resources

Once you’ve completed the requirements spec stage, you should know enough to accurately estimate the duration and resource requirements for the remainder of the project.  You should also update the “Documentation Project Plan” document with this information.

Estimating is always a difficult process, and there’s not really any sure-fire way of getting it right.  Mostly it depends on the job and your experience.  However, following are some guidelines that might help you.

If you have records from previous projects, you might simply be able to estimate project duration based on these.  You should try to compare the old subject material and topics with the new to make sure that the old times will be applicable to the new project.  On p.174 of Managing Your Documentation Projects (1994), Hackos provides some potentially useful guidelines for comparing the complexity of various documentation projects.

If, on the other hand, the project is entirely new, you will have no records to use as a guide (unless you have managed a similar project in the past).  In this situation, project estimates will be very difficult to make.

One possible method for estimating is:

1. Compile a list of tasks, and record how many there are in your list.

2. Compile a list of concepts that must be documented, and record how many there are in your list.

3. From your list of tasks, select 10 that are representative of the rest (in terms of complexity, expected length, status of the relevant development, etc.), and of the same granularity (e.g., you can write a single topic for each).

4. From your list of concepts, select 3 that are representative of the rest, and of the same granularity (e.g., you can write a single topic for each).

5. Estimate the number of pages per topic.

6. Document these tasks and concepts as a trial, ensuring that you track:

• the total time taken to complete each topic.
• the portion of this time that was due to product change or indecision.
• the number of pages per topic.
• the number of extra, unexpected, but necessary, topics you became aware of as a result of the documentation.  Keep a separate record of the number for both task and conceptual topics.

TIP: Make the most of your trial doco. Even though you’ve chosen a design through design prototyping, you can use your documentation sample to test the usability of your documentation approach.  By presenting the sample to an audience sample, you can determine whether you’re heading in the right direction with your doco (i.e. whether you have interpreted and implemented your user research results correctly).

7. Determine the average time taken per page for task and for conceptual topics.

8. Apply this average to the rest of the topics in the project. (Topics written early in the project normally take longer due to lack of information and a higher number of technical issues.  This means topics written later in the process will probably take less than the average calculated here.  However, this will normally be offset by the extra time product changes will incur during the project life-cycle.)

9. Estimate the time per subject area based on the average time per topic.

10. Estimate the number of extra, unexpected, topics that will likely become necessary during the course of the rest of the project.

11. Allow for training, work prac maintenance, holidays, sick days, meetings, usability testing, production (approx 6 weeks turnaround time for printing a 1000 page manual, including proofing), evaluation, and evaluative testing.  Each of these elements will vary according to the nature of the project, and they will tend to take far less time than the actual writing.  That is why specific guidelines are not provided as they are for writing.

Figure out how long you actually have to do it, then how many writers you’ll need to get it done during this time.  Draw up a project schedule using something like Microsoft Project, identifying useful milestones and project deadlines.  Some of your milestones might include:

• Prototype Testing Complete
• Work Pracs Written
• Design Specs Written
• First Draft Complete
• Second Draft Complete
• Localisation of Second Draft Complete
• Final Draft Complete
• Localisation Complete
• Documentation Ready for Release
• Production Complete
• Project Evaluation Complete
• Post-release Usability Testing Complete

It is important to note that you will have milestones before this point, but because they occur prior to the formal scheduling stage, they don’t need to be included in this schedule.

Write Work Pracs & Design Specs

Along with user research, work pracs and design specs are perhaps the easiest project elements to overlook, especially for a small team.  However, even within small teams, it is helpful to maintain both.

Work pracs are for ongoing things, that affect the day to day working environment of the team (e.g., How to use your documentation tool, How to release your help, a style guide, etc.).  Design specs are for documenting one-off things like how we actually plan to go about this thing.  This will include such information as what tools we’ll be using, what each will do, and the mechanics of how it all fits together.  e.g., How the VSS project will work, how everything should be managed, multi-user issues, how it will be localised, etc.

To be continued… See part 3 of this article (http://www.divinewrite.com/docoprocess3.htm) for information on writing your user documentation.

Successful Documentation Projects – Part 3 of 3 – ‘Writing’

So you understand your user documentation project and you’ve specced it out. Now you’re ready to write. Here’s some tips to help you on your way. This article isn’t about the actual writing itself; it’s about the things which go along with the writing. (For information on writing online help, see www.divinewrite.com/helpfulhelp.htm.)

NOTE: This is the final article in a series of three outlining the key elements of a good user documentation process. (To read the first and second articles in this series, go to http://www.divinewrite.com/docoprocess1.htm and http://www.divinewrite.com/docoprocess2.htm.)

Indexing

Index keywords should be defined while the topic is being written.  At this time, the subject matter is clear in the author’s mind, and they are very conversant with all of the intricate details.  Indexing during the writing stage also means that your keywords are reviewed as part of the draft process.
Some authoring tools don’t really facilitate this kind of approach particularly well (e.g., some don’t allow multiple author access to the files needed for indexing), but at least the keywords should be listed at the end of each draft.  (Depending on the authoring tool, this may actually be easier for the reviewers, anyway.) TIP: For further information on indexing, see The Art of Indexing (1994) by Bonura.

User documentation reviews

To ensure that your user documentation is technically correct and readable, you need to get it reviewed by an intelligent selection of people.  For a software project, your review list should include a subject matter expert (generally the programmer), the software architect, perhaps the project manager, and another writer.  The review requirements will vary with each draft, so your reviewers and review procedures should be documented in your work pracs.

Testing your user documentation

Testing can be performed at a number of levels:

• Each writer should test their own user documentation by following it to use the product. But remember, this kind of testing isn’t very powerful, because there’s a tendency for writers to follow instructions as they think they’ve written them, not as they’ve actually written them.
• The second level is for the testing to be performed by other writers… as part of the peer review.
• The third level is for the testing department to do formal testing on the user documentation.  This type of testing doesn’t often happen, but it’s good to try to get it happening.
• The fourth level is/should be conducted as part of Beta testing (see Managing Your Documentation Projects by Hackos (1994), pp.452-453).

No matter what level of testing you use, it should be designed to ensure that the tasks documented are true to the product, and that any online help functions correctly.  For the user documentation to pass testing, it needs to satisfy the goals you specified in the earlier stages of the project.

Localising your user documentation

Although localisation is often considered a post-writing activity, it’s best to do it as part of the writing stage.  The exact timing may vary project to project, but a good rule of thumb is to get the translators working on the second drafts (but only if you’re not expecting many changes to the draft).  TIP: Most translators will probably prefer to work on a sizable piece of user documentation, rather than individual topics sent to them piece-meal, so you should wait ‘til you have something of a respectable size to send them – perhaps a whole subject area, as opposed to a single topic.

With localisation, you’re performing a balancing act.  If you send the user documentation to the translators too soon, you’ll spend a lot of money on changes to the translations.  If you send it too late, it won’t be ready in time for the release of the product.

Managing change

It’s important that you minimise the impact of changes to the product and/or development schedule.  To do this, you need to develop a technique which:

1. Identifies the change
2. Estimates the impact in time and/or resources *
3. Informs the project manager

* You can use the same estimating techniques as you used earlier in the project.

Tracking writing progress

It is important to note that the writing stage is not simply about writing.  If you track your progress at every step along the way, you’ll be able to see whether you will meet your milestones and deadlines, and you’ll also be able to use this project as a learning experience… to better plan the next one.  (You should ensure that all project records are easily accessible for ongoing maintenance and future project reference.)

You should track the time taken to perform every step outlined in this procedure as well as each draft stage, review times, total turnaround times, etc.

Conducting regular team meetings

In order to keep all team members informed of writing progress, you should conduct regular team meetings.  These meetings should be a forum for taking a look at your tracking metrics and discussing the estimated percentage complete for the various topics currently under way.  If the estimated percentage complete is lower than it should be given the time already spent, then you can act on it.  These meetings allow you to identify hitches in the writing progress.

Writing progress reports

Your management also need to be kept informed of the status of the project.  You should write periodic progress reports outlining:

• Where the project is at
• What you’ve done over the last month
• What you plan to do over the next month
• Any issues you’ve encountered

Manage Production

The meaning of “production” varies depending on what kind of documentation you’re working on and who the audience is.  It can encompass such things as:

• Printing
• Binding
• Product build (when the help is compiled into the product)

Although the production stage generally only requires management, you still need to spend a fair bit of time on proofing and liaising with production people.

Evaluate the Project

The purpose of the evaluation stage is to consider:

• Did the project go according to plan?
• Why? / Why not?
• How individual team members contributed to the overall project.
• How the project manager performed.
• Whether the documentation achieved its goals.

Your tracking metrics will come in handy during this stage; if there were any flaws in the project progress, they should go some way towards identifying them.  You might also use the sample evaluation report provided by Hackos in Managing Your Documentation Projects by Hackos (1994), pp.514-518.

Is your documentation successful?

Now that you’ve written and released the documentation, you need to determine whether it has achieved your goals.  The only way to accurately do this is to conduct further user research.

TIP: For details on research methods, take a look at Managing Your Documentation Projects by Hackos (1994), User and Task Analysis for Interface Design by Hackos & Redish (1998), Social Marketing: New Imperative for Public Health by Manoff (1985), Designing Qualitative Research 2nd Edition by Marshall & Rossman (1995), and “Conducting Focus Groups – A Guide for First-Time Users”, in Marketing Intelligence and Planning by Tynan & Drayton (1988).

And that’s it! Remember, this process is an ‘ideal’ process. Take the bits that suit you and your project, and leave the bits that don’t.

Good luck!

Successful Organizational Leadership: Effective Execution through Strategic Alignment

It is an all-too-familiar scenario. Corporation X misses badly on its commitments several quarters in a row and the stock plummets. As a result, the Board loses confidence, the CEO “resigns,” and a new CEO is appointed who immediately announces a sweeping restructure of the corporation.

In the past few years, papers have been inundated with such reports. Even at corporations where top-level executives show signs of “vision” and have articulated what seems to be a sound business strategy on paper, results fall short of expectations.

We have all been there at one point or another in our careers. The leadership team spends long hours agreeing on a 3- or 5-year strategy to improve the performance of the business. Management teams work equally hard to come up with supportive annual budgets. Both teams populate long PowerPoint presentations and well-built, exhaustive spreadsheet files. Yet not much happens in terms of actual deliverables! Ambitious year-end targets are missed. Improvement curves keep being shifted to the right, until the scenario at the beginning of this article is realized. Now the process for restructure of the corporation begins.

Questions immediately arise as to why these events occur so often and include:
• What has gone wrong and why?
• Are the goals too aggressive?
• Are the visions and/or strategies inadequate?
• Are middle managers unable to execute?
• If the answer is yes to all these questions, then why is it so?

All are good questions, and many have been extensively addressed with proposals on how to find corresponding solutions. Based on my experience, however, a key element that needs to be addressed is the importance of strategic alignment.

<b>What is strategic alignment? </b>

Strategic alignment can be described as the linkage between the goals of the business, which quantify the progress of the implementation of the strategy towards the vision, and the goals of each of the key contributors. Key contributors include groups, divisions, business units, departments, or individual employees who have an interest in the continuation of a successful corporation.

Strategic alignment, put simply, is “everyone rowing in the same direction.” The tighter the linkage and the better the alignment, the likelihood of flawless corporate execution becomes stronger.

Strategic alignment has several advantages once implemented properly and practiced. Benefits include:
1. Allowing an efficient use of usually scarce resources,
2. Resulting in increased speed of execution, as a corollary,
3. Promoting team efforts towards common goals, and
4. Escalating employees’ motivation, giving them a keener sense of contribution to the results of their individual groups and of the corporation as a whole.

These are good results that many corporations would benefit from, but very few corporations are able to realize them. Since many corporations and their leadership teams attempt to gain strategic alignment, the question becomes what barriers must be overcome.

<b>How can strategic alignment be implemented effectively and what are the key success factors? </b>

The first component of a successful strategic alignment is the extensive communication necessary within the organization to understand the elements of the vision and of the key strategic directions needed. Relentless repetition by the leadership and management teams at every opportunity, including sales meetings, company meetings, and operational business reviews allow each employee to understand vividly how he/she can contribute to the overall progress. More often than not, however, these vital communication opportunities are restricted to boring presentations of high-level tables filled with data that are difficult for employees to associate with their day-to-day jobs.

The second component of a successful strategic alignment is absolutely essential to link the results of each employee’s job to the progress of the entire corporation strategy and to do it clearly and simply. This is best accomplished by using simple measures of key performances (KBMs= key business metrics, or KPMs= key performance metrics), which can be connected to the employee’s annual performance review.

One excellent example of effective strategic alignment is practiced at Thermo Electron Corporation, a leader in the field of analytical instrumentation, headquartered in Waltham, MA. Thermo Electron uses a cascading set of goals that quantitatively measure the progress of the strategic implementation. This “waterfall effect” or “goal tree” starts at the very top of the corporation and cascades down to all levels of the organization – from Corporation to Divisions; from Divisions to Business Units; from Business Units to Departments, and from Departments to Employees.

When it reaches the employee, the objectives are incorporated into her/his annual performance targets and these objectives directly support the key goals from the highest levels of the organization. This ensures both focus and alignment as the employee daily delivers on their objectives. Objectives are rolled back up the “waterfall” or “goal tree” in periodic reviews of goals at all levels in the organization.

Implementing strategic alignment is not rocket science. It requires, however, strong commitment from the top leadership and focus on relentless communication at every opportunity using simple management principles of focus, clarity and reinforcement.

In the end, effective execution of strategic alignment is a leader’s top priority and ensures that goals are met and success achieved.