Philip Walcoff - "The Fast Forward MBA in Business Planning for ...

Philip Walcoff - "The Fast Forward MBA in Business Planning for Growth"Page 24involves gaining their confidence. Those senior people who are interviewed are assured that allconversations with them will be private. Upon completion of the interviews, an integrated list of issuesis developed (with no names attached) to be shared with the participants in the upcoming planningsession. In most cases, this process prompts people to be candid.Over the last 8 years, I have conducted approximately 400 interviews of this nature. Surprisingly, Ihaven't heard a lot of complaining but, rather, a genuine interest in getting at the issues in order to makethe company more successful and a better place to work. I never, in any of my interviews, try to drawout a particular issue. I set the stage and let the persons being interviewed speak their minds. I askquestions to clarify their statements, but I never coach them to pursue a particular issue area.Gathering and Presenting the IssuesIn getting at these issues, my conversation goes something like this: "So you are a $2-million companytoday and you believe you could be a $10-million company in 5 years. Tell me what changes arenecessary to be made in the company in order to achieve this $10-million goal." This question usuallyopens up the floodgates, uncovering the issues residing in all the elements of the company, includingexecutive management, production and operations (where the revenue is generated), and the stafforganizations, including marketing and sales, personnel, finance, and administration.Each of these interview sessions will often produce anywhere from 5 to 20 issues. Upon completion ofthese interviews, I integrate the issues (the major issues are often voiced repeatedly by a majority of thepersons interviewed) into a set of statements that reflect what I have heard. In maintaining the promisedconfidentiality, I don't attach names to the issues I have gathered. As mentioned earlier, the first thing Ido in the planning session is share with the group the issues they have brought to light. I want to makesure they understand the issues,Page 25and if someone questions an issue, I ask for clarification from those who have voiced the issue.Sometimes an issue is discarded if a large majority of the participants don't agree that it's an issue. It'samazing how open and responsive the group becomes—even to such tough issues as "The CEO doesn'tdelegate" or "There is insufficient accountability by the senior staff."After I have shared the issues with the group, I put them aside and return to them later in the day whenwe develop the tactical portion of the plan. This is when we will define annual objectives and near-termactions to address each and every issue.Issues for Small and Start-Up Companiesfile:///C|/Documents and Settings/gasanova/Local Settin...Forward_MBA_in_Business_Planning_for_Growth/e-book.html (36 of 219)16.02.2005 13:54:23