Principle 2: Focus on Achieving Goals (Item 6)
Clear direction allows organizational alignment and a focus on achievement
of goals.
Alternatively: Mutually agreed plans translate organizational
direction into action.
People must know what is expected of them (eg, through being involved
in the planning process, having performance agreements and job descriptions).
For plans to work, everyone must know what the goal and strategies
are and what part they are to play in them. Mutual agreement of the
plans, strategies and roles is essential. To achieve that, communications
must be very good. Plans and roles imposed by bosses either fail completely
or have only very modest success. This means that your planning process
must include processes for mutual agreement and for upward communication
(which as we saw in Principle 1 `Role Models', must be established
on a basis of trust).
Planning is a necessary step so that each department, division, and
section and each person knows their part in achieving the organizational
Goals. You might do a magnificent job in vision setting painting pictures
of the future as described in the sections above. It will all be for
nothing if every department, division, and section and each person
does not know what part they are to play in achieving that Goal.
Hoshin planning and Quality Function Deployment or QFD provide very
useful tools for everyone in the organization to be working towards
the organization's Goals using mutually agreed strategies and in line
with organizational values. It also provides excellent tools for each
department, division, and section and each person to know exactly
their part in achieving the organizational Goals. However, it can
be a tad too complex.
Performance agreements and job descriptions should be products of
the planning process. How else should people know what their job is?
In the old paradigm, bosses dictated performance `agreements' and
job descriptions were used to set pay scales for the convenience of
Personnel Departments. In the new paradigm, performance agreements
are mutually agreed between boss and employee and make full reference
to the obligations of both parties.
The employee agrees to do certain tasks or activities that
make up their part of the organization's plan.
The boss agrees to provide skills, knowledge, authority, power,
support, resources, capital, assist with suppliers (often other employees)
and modify processes to make them more capable.
 The job description
should give description of the more general daily activities of how
the employee contributes to the organizational Goals. The performance
agreement is for the special stuff; the job description handles the
general stuff. Both are integrally linked to each other and to the
organization's planning process – but not linked to personnel.
Strategies get broken down into down into `tactics' and `actions'
for people to do. For plans to work, everyone must know what the goal
and strategies are and what part they are to play in them. People
should know how what they do fits into the organization's purpose.
It gives direction to their job.
Everybody's job should be part of a strategy that in turn is aimed
at a goal or objective.
Actions should be described in Performance Agreements and job descriptions.
Performance agreements must also include processes for mutual agreement.
For plans to work, everyone must know what the goal and strategies
are and what part they are to play in them. Mutual agreement of the
plans, strategies and roles is essential. To achieve that, communications
must be very good. Plans and roles imposed by bosses either fail completely
or have only very modest success. This means that your planning process
must include processes for mutual agreement and for upward communication
(which as we saw in Principle 1 `Role Models', must be established
on a basis of trust).
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