Focus™: A Crowdsourcing Approach to Achieving 'Strategically Smart'

Focus™ is DillonMarcus's strategic planning process built to solve the most common failure point in organizational planning: lack of buy-in. Rather than a plan drafted behind closed doors and handed down to the organization, Focus™ uses a crowdsourcing approach to build a strategic playbook your team helps create — and is therefore motivated to implement.

The Problem Focus™ Solves

Many organizations are staffed with smart people who want to do the right thing, but the definition of "the right thing" keeps shifting week to week. Planning sessions can feel tedious and unfocused, leaving participants unsure what to actually do differently the next day. Focus™ was built to fix that.

The Promise

A solid plan, supported by the people who helped create it, minimizes organizational stress and maximizes results. When your team has a hand in building the strategy, they don't need convincing to implement it.

What Focus™ Delivers

The process assesses your organization's current market position, identifies and prioritizes the key indicators of organizational health, generates a dynamic strategic playbook built around the "vital few" initiatives that matter most, and clarifies individual goals, roles, and responsibilities across your team.

How Focus™ Works

Focus™ follows a go-global, go-local progression, starting with the opportunities and challenges present in your current business environment. The team examines relevant internal data and marketplace realities to inform both long-term objectives and short-term tactics. Consultation runs throughout the process — including input from the frontline — so the final plan is never a surprise to the people expected to carry it out.

What Makes Focus™ More Successful

Traditional strategic planning often puts a handful of senior leaders behind closed doors for a few days, after which the plan is unveiled to the rest of the organization in hopes that others will embrace it. Focus™ replaces that hit-or-miss approach with structured feedback from staff, clients, Board members, and industry experts, so the Strategic Planning task force builds a plan informed by the people closest to the work. Leaders are then coached to adopt the vital few initiatives that offer the greatest leverage for the organization.

The Six-Month Process

Focus™ unfolds in two three-month phases: Jump-Start and Managing the Momentum.

Jump-Start (Months 1-3)

1. Set the Scope — A client consultation to determine desired outcomes, management philosophy, the scope of the process, the members of the Strategic Planning task force, and the level of employee involvement and enthusiasm.

2. Create the Plan — Crowdsourcing direction and ideas from stakeholder groups, researching metrics to understand current realities, generating a plan that identifies strategic priorities and key dashboard indicators, and validating the proposed plan with key stakeholders.

Managing the Momentum (Months 4-6)

3. Playbook — Creation of the Strategic Plan Playbook, complete with objectives, timelines, and accountability plans, then shared with the organization to ensure collective alignment.

4. Progress — Bi-monthly check-ins with individuals and teams, plus a formal check-up within 60-90 days of the Playbook session, focused on progress, adjustments, and celebrating milestones.

The Value

The four-stage Focus™ process results in clear organizational focus and a Strategic Playbook that can also be used to benchmark individual and organizational performance. Your team members buy in to the plan because they helped build it.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does the Focus™ process take?

Focus™ runs over six months, split into a three-month Jump-Start phase and a three-month Managing the Momentum phase.

Who is involved in the Focus™ process?

Focus™ draws input from across the organization, including staff, clients, Board members, and industry experts, in addition to the Strategic Planning task force.

What's the main output of Focus™?

A Strategic Plan Playbook that identifies key dashboard indicators, the vital few strategic priorities, and clear objectives, timelines, and accountability plans.

Learn more about how Focus™ fits into our broader approach on our Consulting page.

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