Process frequency. At many companies, strategic planning and portfolio management is an episodic process that happens quarterly or annually. In turbulent times, strategic planning has to happen more frequently.
Kill rate. As times get tough, many companies have to de-prioritize some projects in their portfolio. Companies should make sure they focus on an idea's true potential, or else they will accidentally sacrifice ideas with great long-term potential (see a recent excerpt from The Silver Lining in BusinessWeek for more on this topic)
Focus on "loving the low end." Most companies generally default towards providing better products or services to demanding customers. In tough times, companies have to figure out how they are going to compete for increasingly value-conscious customers. Ask whether you have any explicit strategies focused on "loving the low end" of your market.
william doust on 14 Apr 09Meet the Funder Lessons from The City Bridge Trust programme Delegate fee: FREE SEL warmly invites you to a FREE learning conference on achieving financial sustainability within community groups. Supported by The City Bridge Trust, over the last year SEL has run an innovative programme of support with 36 organisations to enable them to develop financially sustainable practices. The aim of this conference is to disseminate the learning from that programme. There will also be an opportunity to meet the Deputy Head of Grants at The City Bridge Trust, so if your organisation could benefit from a greater focus on financial sustainability then make sure you come along.
