PERTINENT INFORMATION LTD. A center for information to help businesses grow faster "Giving You Valued Information"   Susan Pilgrim, Ph.D. specializes in engaging the spirit of individuals, teams, and organizations. Revisiting Your Company's Direction

As you're looking ahead to and planning for the new year, this is an ideal time to consider to what extent your business is prospering and reaching its goals. The results of research studies, as well as common sense, tell us that the company with a well-defined mission and corresponding action-oriented goals is more likely to meet the needs of their customers and create a work environment that empowers employees. Empowered employees contribute significantly to the company's prosperity. Their contribution results from the freedom that comes with having responsibility and control over the work they do. When they're empowered and in tune with the company's direction, employees will make decisions that benefit the company, their departments, their co-workers, as well as themselves. Their creativity generates new ideas that are so critical in the ever-changing economic environment. To take advantage of this time of reflection and planning, you can use the following process to revisit the company's goals and direction. Consider this process a tool that can be used by you individually or collectively with your management team and staff. 1. Revisit the company's mission statement. Although your company's mission statement may be posted in conspicuous places, even on your desk, you often don't see it because of its familiarity. It blends in with its surrounding environment. Take some time to think about what the company's mission means to the company, its people, and to you personally. Ask if the company's actions are in line with the mission. If your company doesn't have a mission statement, take this opportunity to develop one. Mission statements generally include the purpose, benefits, and direction of the company. Use simple words to convey the meaning so that everyone in the company, as well as your customers, can understand what your business is all about. Here's part of a mission statement from an asset investment company: "The focus of our services will be on investment policy, investment manager selection, and performance evaluation." 2. Look at each of the company's goals. Look at the goals in each area of the company -- administration, operations, production, human resources, sales and marketing, R & D. Where is the company in relation to attaining its goals? Reaffirm the relationship between the goals and the company's mission. 3. Determine which goals are salient. Goals that were set six months ago may not be particularly meaningful now. For instance, if your company has considered entering into the European market and your research and market studies don't support such a move, do you need to keep the goal that all senior level managers learn conversational German? Abandon those goals that are no longer viable for your company. Set aside the ones for which the timing has not been right. 4. Look at where the company is expending its time, energy, and resources. Look at the day-to-day operations. Are they in alignment with the mission and goals? Do operations need adjustment, or do goals need to be redefined? For example, are your customer service representatives spending more time completing paperwork and creating paper trails than they are in assisting customers? Is the company's mission to provide timely quality service to your customers, or is it to make sure everyone is doing their job? 5. Renew your commitment. Reaffirm the company's mission and direction. Re-align your individual goals with those of the company. Visibly and emphatically demonstrate your commitment to the company's direction. Encourage your people to take ownership in the everyday successes and challenges, as well as the prosperity of the company. Only when your people have an emotional investment in the company will they give their best effort. Not only do you want to inform them of the company's mission and goals, you also want them to develop goals that will move the company forward. So if the mission is to provide quality customer service, one of the customer service reps may have a goal to smile and speak with the customer cheerfully upon initial contact. 6. Revise your plan for action as necessary. If you make changes in your goals, develop new components in your plan to accommodate those changes. Check the essential nature of each activity. Does that activity move the company forward? Eliminate any unnecessary non-productive activity. Involve those people who are responsible for implementing the plan. Ask them for and listen to their input. Use their ideas, and give them credit. 7. Move ahead. All goals set by companies are not realized. There comes a time when some goal must be abandoned or set aside. Learn from the mistakes that have been made, and use them for the company's benefit. Put into action those steps that will move the company in the desired direction. Revisiting your company's goals will determine its present well-being and lead to long-term success. There is no doubt you can strategically examine your company's direction at any time. What better time than the present to prepare for a profitable future? Newsletter and Ezine Resource Find exactly what you're looking for In our quest to provide you with tools and information to help you change the way you work and live, we've gathered a comprehensive list of newsletters on all aspects of business and life. The benefits are all there. Click here to go there.

A Practical Guide for Taking Gentle Control of Life Living InSync is a way of life, a way of living, a lifelong process that exemplifies the mind-body-spirit interconnectedness in life. The essence of being InSync is found in the five dimensions of life--physical, emotional, mental, social and spiritual.Living InSync® means assessing and optimizing your personal power, understanding yourself and others, envisioning what you want from life, making conscious choices and pursuing goals to be the person you want to be. By assessing your personal power, you become creative, decisive and productive and can take gentle control of your life. Living InSync® offers a personalized, proactive, step-by-step approach to help you assess where you are in life, who you want to be, and where you want to go. Maintaining a balance between and within the dimensions offers you a perpetual challenge because the evolving nature of your being is dynamic and ever-changing. By responding to life's challenges in new ways and by recognizing that perfection is a static, nonexistent state, you'll experience insights about yourself and the unlimited opportunities for success and peace. You'll find that when you live InSync with yourself, you're more InSync with others and the Spirit.

Dr. Susan Pilgrim, author of Living InSync® -- Creating Your Life with Balance and Purpose (Health Communications Inc.) and Moving InSync® with the Spirit (in press), and president of Life Investments, is an Atlanta-based international speaker, business consultant, and coach. She specializes in engaging the spirit of individuals, teams, and organizations. Her work represents a unique blend of experience and education in the areas of business management, education, and psychology. She customizes programs to meet the needs of the client and designs them to increase personal, professional, and organizational productivity. Susan's committed to positively influencing the lives of those in her audiences. She encourages all who experience her work to invest in themselves so they can get what they want in life. She earned her B.S. at Presbyterian College, her M.Ed. at the University of South Carolina, and her Ph.D. at Georgia State University. Her memberships include the National Speakers Association, American Society for Training and Development, and the Georgia Society of Association Executives. Her columns appear in a number of business, health, and personal development publications. Susan Pilgrim, PhD 877.467.9627 209.825.9459/fax spilgrim@susanpilgrim.com

Homepage | Suggestion Box Articles By Category Advertising Interpersonal Communication Marketing Page 1 Marketing Page 2 Negotiation Persuasion Publicity [Press Release etc.] Self Assessment Exercises Start-Ups Stress and Relaxation

Contact Information Chris McClean Pertinent Information Ltd. 2314 Richmond Rd Victoria, B.C. V8R 4R8 Canada [TEL] 1-250-598-9102 [FAX] 1-250-598-9109 "YOU CAN GET ATTENTION BY EMPHASIZING THE RELEVANT" [ Top of page ]