Situational analysis is the middle or second step of the backPlanning process, with strategic thinking and operational execution being the first and third steps, respectively. At this stage of planning you must do a reality check. In strategic thinking you examined what you wanted to do in the long term. Now you must carefully consider what can be done in the short term in light of the realities of the business environment in which you must act. To conduct a good situational analysis, you must consider eight criteria:
1. Analysis of company performance
a. Current
b. Historical
2. Analysis of competition
3. Analysis of market share
4. Analysis of mission
a. Implied tasks
b. Mission capability
5. Analysis of existing resources
6. Analysis of your business’s drivers—excluding, at this time, your primary operational focus (i.e., single focus)
7. Analysis of existing structure
8. Analysis of reference information
a. Customer satisfaction survey
b. Employee satisfaction survey
c. Others as identified
To implement your operational plan you need the proper structure. You need to look at your plan from three perspectives:
1. Organizational charting
a. Do you have the right teams in place to carry out the mission?
b. Are the reporting relationships lean and efficient?
c. Is the organization structure as flat as possible?
2. Soft infrastructure
a. Have you defined the right authority levels to facilitate immediate implementation of the plan?
b. Have you communicated your expectations of responsibility for execution of the plan?
c. Have you defined the accountability and how it will be exercised in the first year of the plan?
3. Hard infrastructure
a. Are the physical facilities set up to support the mission?
b. Do you have the right equipment spotted at the right locations?