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12 Steps to Implementing Anything in Your Business: Step Four: Get Feedback and Refine Strategy

Guest post by: David Flannery

Article Overview: It is usually at the end of step three in this process that things start to go bad for the business owner or manager, and for one simple reason. He has devised his strategy for implementation and tries to drive it though with no consideration for the effect it will have on other people, ultimately the process he is trying to get implemented does not get done. I have seen it happen time and time again. Step four is all about talking with people, getting their feedback and getting their buy in for the process. This will mean testing your newly devised strategy before going into detailed planning and action.

12 Steps to Implementing Anything in Your Business: Step Four: Get Feedback and Refine Strategy

It is usually at the end of step three in this process that things start to go bad for the business owner or manager, and for one simple reason. He has devised his strategy for implementation and tries to drive it though with no consideration for the effect it will have on other people, ultimately the process he is trying to get implemented does not get done. I have seen it happen time and time again.

Step four is all about talking with people, getting their feedback and getting their buy in for the process. This will mean testing your newly devised strategy before going into detailed planning and action.

Usually, in a small and medium sized business, this will take only a couple of hours, but will yield huge benefits, you will get the reactions and feedback from the people who will be affected by the initiative, You will find out if there are major issues that need to be addressed before you can proceed with assured success plus you will generate interest in the project.

Testing, in short, develops understanding and interest in the project and that alone will increase your chances for success. It lets you adjust your strategy to take advantage of new insights and to smooth out any negative feelings towards the project.

The four steps in testing are:

· List all the people and processes affected by the implementation.

· Contact everyone on that list and get their viewpoints, issues and recommendations. Care must be taken with this step as the way you contact a person and how your proposal is put forward can have a bearing on the feedback and response you receive as a result. One on one meetings are the best, if possible, followed by small group meetings.

· Summarize your findings. You start with the major areas of agreement and highlight them, then summarize the major issues that will need resolution.

· Adjust your strategy. I have no doubt that at this stage your strategy will need adjusting, such as shifts in the goals laid out, or the scope of the implementation process. Issues will need to be added and some deleted.

It is important that all participants and people affected by the project see their ideas and issues addressed, this will give the project a much higher chance of getting implemented.

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Article Tags: business owner, implementation, profits



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