We Understand your Business

Yesterday's post concluded our series on the "HTG Way." I hope that the little bit of insight that I provided on how I run my business will help you run yours.

This blog truly is aimed at and written for our clients and other business owners that we would welcome the opportunity to serve. If you are interested in more technical subjects please visit one of my other blogs:
QSSOnline
SBSC-Central Region-Midwest Area

If there are any topics that you would like to see addressed in any of my blogs, drop me a line at rick@qualitysystemssolutions.com

The HTG Way Part VI - Legacy Plan

Richard Bach said “There's no disaster that can't become a blessing, and no blessing that can't become a disaster.” While this is a true statement, unexpected and unplanned for disasters can certainly cause a lot of stress and uncertainty. So the fourth plan HTG requires members to address relates to how business, leadership and life will continue in our absence. Some call it a legacy plan.

A key component of the legacy plan is related to disaster recovery and business continuity. This plan needs to address all three of the prior areas we discussed. For example – what happens to the company if you get hit by the proverbial bus? What happens to the areas of leadership you are responsible for? What happens to your spouse, family, civic organizations and other areas you currently are involved? All those questions need to be addressed so there is no drop off in the event of a disaster, be it short term or permanent. One thing we can all be sure of, life on this earth will come to an end. We do not know when, but we do know that it will. So we need to prepare so we are ready whenever that time comes.

But legacy is much more than just disaster recovery. It addresses the impact of a person’s life after they are gone. How do you keep a tangible presence beyond your actual lifespan? It is what happens after you die. While physical assets may be deemed a component of a person's ultimate legacy, the focus on family or institutional history, values and the stories that define us dictates that every individual, family and entity can be enriched through implementing a strategic legacy plan.

So what are the key components to a legacy plan?

1. Personal mission statement – a series of guiding principles that lead you through daily and major life decisions. This answers the question “How will you live?”
2. Personal legacy statement – allows you to articulate what is closest to your heart. It is a record of messages and information too valuable to be lost and captures your inner most thoughts for the benefit of future generations. This answers the question “What will the result and impact of my life be after I am gone?”
3. If something happens to me – a collection of key information that makes recovery from a short or long term illness or death much simpler for those left behind.
4. Exit Planning Guide – key information to make the funeral planning process go smoothly.
5. Estate and Will Planning Template – key information to help in the creation and review of your will.

These are simply some tools to use to put together a systematic plan to be sure that you have at least started the process of putting a legacy plan in place that prepares your company, leadership and life for a change in your status. Without proper preparation, you put all things at risk and make the situation much more difficult and complex than it needs to be. No one really enjoys this process, but it is so very important to consider prior to being needed. It is often not possible to address these areas once illness or death has occurred. So take the time now, record the needed information, and make sure those important in your life are informed of the location of the documents.

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The HTG Way Part V - Life Plans

Abraham Lincoln said “And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years”. For too many of us in the business community, life takes a back seat to work. There is a struggle we all must work through regarding life/work balance. Without a plan and a focused effort to address this battle, we will default to the world’s answer of work. So it is critical that we all develop a plan that can help keep us accountable and focused on what we say is important so our time is spent appropriately and wisely. Without a plan, we will wake up one day and wonder where life has gone.

The third plan HTG is focused on is a life plan. For many, this is a very new concept. A life plan needs to answer the question of “why I got up this morning” or what my purpose is for my life. Far too often people get to the end of life and become aware that they have spent their entire working time focused on things that really were not the most important to them. But the cruel reality of time is that once it is spent, it can never be used again. Each of us is granted 168 hours each week. A life plan should dictate how those hours are used. Every activity or interaction a person makes should go through the funnel of a life plan to assure each minute is spent on things that align with the real priorities and objectives a person has for their life. Without a plan, each of us will wake up someday and wonder where all our time has gone and how we missed the chance to live focused on the things that really matter. For many, this may be the first time they have addressed these deep philosophical questions personally, and even more often, the first time they have discussed them with their spouse, business partners or other important people in their lives. But what could be more important than identifying how I want my life to count and what I should spend my time on to make sure the things I say are important truly are treated that way.

In many ways, the life plan we use for HTG is very similar to the leadership plan. The focus is different in that the areas are not related to business, but to our own personal goals and objectives. There are three key areas that need to be addressed:

1. Commitments – specific areas that align with life goals and stated objectives you wish to achieve through your life.

2. Execution plan – how you will achieve the commitments you have with specific steps, milestones and dependencies

3. Accountabilities – how you will measure success and to whom you will be accountable.


There are a number of areas you may wish to set life goals, but here are a few to consider in order to get things started:

- Relationships, Family and Friends
- Health and Fitness
- Money and Finances- Recreation and Lifestyle
- Spiritual
- Service and Contribution
- Happiness
- Retirement

You can add or delete areas you wish to define as life commitments, but the key is to make a list and become accountable. This is best done shared with your spouse and family so they can be part of the discussion, decisions and accountability loop. I also recommend you also include a “Bucket List” of activities you wish to achieve before your time on earth ends. This should also be shared, updated and kept top of mind so you can work toward reaching those goals and keep focused on spending your time where it matters most.

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Infix Professional

We do a fair amount of co-marketing with many of our OEM partners. In a lot of cases they provide a web-based tool that permits us to customized a piece of their collateral and then produce a PDF file for printing. In other cases we are just provided the PDF file.

In either case, I am not a graphics person nor a professional print production person. I have found it very frustrating when I have had to make any changes to a PDF file. In most cases, all I really need to do is add contact info to and existing campaign piece. I ususally end up printing labels - rather than try and "fix" the piece.

Those days are OVER. I finally found something that works! It even works for me.... Infix Professional seems like it was purpose-built, just for me. It allows me to QUICKLY and Easily open any PDF file, and effortlessly add, remove or change text. On the last piece I worked on, I needed to resize the entire document, to get it to fit properly on a business card. I was done in less than a minute. Could you do that with any of the other PDF editors out there?

If you find yourself ever needing to modify an existing PDF file, I would HIGHLY recommend that you visit http://www.iceni.com/infix.htm and check out "The Smartest PDF Editor On The Planet!"

The HTG Way Part IV - Leadership Plans

Zig Ziglar said “It was character that got us out of bed, commitment that moved us into action, and discipline that enabled us to follow through.” Creating a business plan is foundational, but next we move to planning that will assure those who are required to perform in order to achieve the business plan are aligned. This requires personal commitments from those in leadership as well as those who will do the day to day activity required for success of the company plan. We call this personal commitment plan a leadership plan.

Far too often owners and managers create job descriptions and commitments for their staff or team, but seldom have written anything in regard to their involvement in achieving the success of the company business plan. We know from experience that as the owner or manager goes, often so goes the business. If the leadership in a company is not disciplined and dedicated to following a plan, or leading the execution of the company plan, it often falls by the wayside and becomes little more than a piece of paper with some words on it. The leadership plan is the document that allows the owner or manager to put a stake in the ground saying “I am going to do these things to assure we reach our goals”. The leadership plan should clearly define his priorities for how time is used on the job and should provide the team with clarity in what role will be fulfilled. Of course successfully using this plan means a willingness to be evaluated about how well it has been executed. That level of accountability to the team sets a standard and creates an environment that leads to growth and success of people and the organization as a whole.

HTG uses a simple worksheet to capture leadership commitments. These consist of three areas around each topic:

1. Commitments – specific areas of focus that aligns job performance goals and objectives with the company business plan and goals. Answers the question “What areas of my job align directly with the company business plan and goals?”

2. Execution Plan – how you will achieve your commitments. This should include key milestones, priorities and dependencies for success. Answers the question “What will you specifically do?”

3. Accountabilities – define how you will measure success and what metrics you will use to evaluate the realization of your commitments. These will be KPI’s and metrics related to measuring success. Answers the question “How will you know you have achieved success?”

You can select a number of areas that align directly with the company business plan, but here are a few that may be good to consider:
- Revenue/Financial/Profitability Objectives
- Personal Growth and Training Objectives
- Customer Relationships and Satisfaction/Loyalty Objectives
- Company Culture/Fellow Employee/Process Improvement Objectives
- Business and Career Objectives

There likely will be other areas you can include. This is not the same as a job description, but should include the reality that many items on this personal leadership commitment plan need to align with the job description as well as the company business plan. Just make sure you are able to identify what role you play in achieving company success and then identify the things you need to do to achieve those, and how you can measure and assess your work along that path.

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The HTG Way Part III - Business Plans

Will Rogers said “Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there”. We have to plan to take action. Underlying S.M.A.R.T. goals is the need for planning. In HTG we focus on four plans that we ask members to complete or update each year.
1. Business Plan
2. Leadership Plan
3. Life Plan
4. Legacy Plan

The first and foundational plan is a company business plan. This plan is targeted at capturing the key elements for the company for the coming year. HTG uses a version of the One Page Business Plan as a model, but members are able to use any plan methodology they prefer. The key is not what the plan looks like, but rather that there is a plan. This plan should serve as the basis for many of the goals that are set each quarter. If the goals don’t align with the plan (or one of the plans), then why is there focus being made on it.

There are five key elements to the one page business plan format which are important to address:
1. Vision – a graphical description of the business that answers the question “What are you building?” Your vision should describe what the business will look like in 3, 5 or 10 years. It should include the geographical scope, the type of business you will operate, product and service offerings and what customers you intend to serve. This is the “big picture” for your company.
2. Mission – is the statement of purpose for the organization and answers the question “Why does this business exist?” The mission statement should describe the reason this company exists in a sentence or less. This statement should be timeless and really give people a clear view into the purpose of the business over time.
3. Objectives – are a list of measurable results and desired outcomes. This answers the question “What will you measure?” While there is the potential for a long list here, it is recommended that this be a list of four to eight goals that must be achieved for the business to be successful. This should include KPI’s and other ways to measure success and to know goals have been met.
4. Strategies – define how business will be built and managed. They answer the question “How will you build and grow this business?” This should be a list of five to eight things the business must do extremely well over time to be successful. These are not typically short term or tactical activities, but longer term actions that will be done consistently over time.
5. Plans – are a list of work or tasks to be completed. This answers the question “What is the work to be done now?” In this section, list six to eight specific business building or infrastructure projects that must be successfully completed within the next 12 months in order to implement the strategies listed above. These are tactical activities that need to happen now.

Of course the plan by itself does not guarantee success. You need to review it regularly, create a scorecard for key areas of measurement, identify KPI’s to watch daily, evaluate and provide regular feedback to employees so they are aware of progress, utilize to do lists with dates and progress benchmarks to track activity, and communicate verbally and via written word progress on the plan.

One other area you may want to include in your business plan is your Core Values. These are statements by which your company will be governed. They don’t change over time but are the very core of how you will operate the business and how it conducts itself through relationships with vendors, customers, employees and the community. These statements help all parties understand how you intend to interact and engage with them and how you will do business. These should be very visible to all people inside and outside your company.




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Partners in Christ at WPC in NOLA

Get it on your calendar and plan to join us!

Join Microsoft partners and employees from around the world

for a time of fellowship and prayer

at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference

New Orleans Marriott at the Convention Center

859 Convention Center Boulevard

New Orleans, Louisiana 70130

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

7:00 - 8:00 a.m.

Click Here to Register Today!

Boyd Bailey has accepted our invitation to come to New Orleans to be our speaker for the 2009 Partners in Christ prayer breakfast!

Boyd is founder and Chairman of Wisdom Hunters, LLC and is the author of two devotional books, Infusion and Seeking Daily the Heart of God; Boyd is also founder of Ministry Ventures, a venture capital firm for early stage ministries which has helped 45 start-up ministries raise over $15.5 million and impact over 35,000 people for Christ. Prior to Ministry Ventures, Bailey was the National Director for Crown Financial Ministries. He was instrumental in the expansion of Crown into 30 major markets across the U.S. He was a key facilitator in the 25 million dollar merger between Christian Financial Concepts and Crown Ministries. Before Crown he and Andy Stanley started First Baptist Atlanta’s north campus; and as an Elder, Boyd assisted Andy in the start of North Point Community Church. In college he bought a service business with five employees. This business endeavor financed his education and the equity from its sale was the economic launching pad for his graduate school experience.

Boyd Bailey was born in Huntsville, Alabama and received his Bachelor of Arts from Jacksonville State University and his Masters of Divinity from Southwestern Seminary in FT. Worth, Texas. Boyd and his wife Rita live in Roswell, GA. They have been married 30 years and are blessed with four daughters and two son-in-laws who love Jesus!

Again this year we will be providing all attendees a free book, Boyd’s Infusion devotional.

We also will be having prayer time on Mon, Tues, Thur and Fri mornings at 6:30 AM. It will be held at the Residence Inn New Orleans Convention Center at 345 St. Joseph Street. Exact room location will be in the daily update where we will count down the days to WPC and the Partners in Christ breakfast. If you won’t be in New Orleans, or aren’t in the technology business, we ask you join us in praying for our industry and the marketplace ministry we are working to establish. We need God’s touch to make things happen for His glory and honor and praise. Hope to see many of you in NOLA.

Questions? Contact mailto:info@partnersinchrist.net?subject=Partners