Objectives

Richard Brewin • November 30, 2017

Need somewhere to start the process of change in your firm? There really is only one start line….

“The fundamental aims and ambitions of the partners”

You wouldn’t set out on a long journey without knowing where you were heading for and the route you planned to take.  Neither would you head off without a map or SatNav to enable you to keep on track despite crossroads and diversions along the way.  Yet too few accountancy firms have any clear plan of where the partners intend to take the firm and how they intend to get there.  Consequently, decision making lacks focus and consistency.  Growth, and the achieving of goals becomes something of a lottery.

Set your objectives, in a structured manner that allows you to identify the most efficient route, if you are serious about running your firm as a business rather than as a practice led by the whims of the market.

The key is to put structure to your thinking.  As always, apply a process to the project.

Step 1: Assess

  Establish clearly, with all partners and key players (we’ll call them stakeholders) involved, exactly where the firm is today and where it wants to be tomorrow.  This should be a composite of personal views about the firm.

 Step 2: Identify Key Objectives

Find out what is it that each stakeholder wants to achieve, within the context of the firm, in the short-term (< one year), medium term (one-two years) and their ultimate personal (but firm-related) goal.

Step 3: Rationalise

Review the objectives in the light of each other and the assessments of where the firm is now and where the stakeholders want it to be.  Look for consistencies and conflicts.  Resolve conflicts before proceeding further.

Step 4: Prioritise  

Identify those tasks that are critical to the overall plan and fundamental to resolving multiple issues.  Also, identify the early, ‘easy pickings’.

Step 5: Action Plan

Create the actions, allocate the responsibilities and set the timetable for progression.

Step 6: Review

Establish a procedure for acceleration, monitoring and review.

 

Don’t Try This At Home!

However experienced you are, you will not be able to carry out this process effectively without outside facilitation.  It requires the objectivity, perspective, experience and knowledge of an expert detached from the firm.  There will always be issues that have been shied away from because of their perceived difficulty, potential for conflict or sheer ignorance.  Their resolution has to be facilitated as does the progression of the plan.

Get yourself an experienced and impartial facilitator.

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