Strategic Management

SRS deploys best practices Diamond-E models and Strategic marketing frameworks as the basic constructs for Strategy development. Using SRS proprietary collaborative processes and methods, the SRS team delves through and determines the strategic issues facing the business or program and develops collaborative solutions that are sound, innovative, complete and executable.

• Vision, Mission, and Target Service Model development
• Environmental macro and micro scans, internal diagnostics, SWOT, value proposition, product mix and implementation plans
• Stakeholders engagement and Strategy development
• Blue prints and implementation plans
• Business Case Development
• Communications
• Board Submissions
• Corporate Governance
• Organizational Effectiveness

SRS delivers these services in partnership with leading academic institutions and professional associations.

New program strategies or business models that sounded so good in theory fail to produce the desired results in practice. The objectives are clear enough: “Define your outcomes and focus on results”. But all too often successful execution is elusive, even when implementing leading edge project management models such as PMBOK®, ITIL®, SEI’s Capability Model, etc.  Something is missing.

The Missing Piece

We believe the missing piece is strategic management and alignment.

By “strategic management and alignment” we mean management that is active, responsive and dynamic; that recognizes the need for vertical and horizontal integration of governance and operational functions and processes; and that proactively manages change through the continuous co-ordination, adjustment and synthesis, i.e. alignment, of management and operational resources, capabilities and processes throughout the full lifecycle of the program or project to realize the desired benefits.

The greatest fallacy in traditional project management and contracting in the modern era is that objectives, strategies, priorities, requirements and deliverables are static, i.e. that what is, is. Terms and conditions are fixed and immutable, and not amenable to change except by way of formal contract amendments that are costly and time consuming. And by the time the first round of contract amendments are agreed to and approved, a second round of amendments lurks in the wings waiting to repeat the cycle.

While most mature project management systems recognize “Change Management” as an essential project management discipline, change management is a lagging process that captures change requirements identified by the parties, often in reaction to intentional or unintentional changes in scope, strategies or priorities. It captures and documents change and operates as a form of “course correction” after the fact; it does not actively manage or align change as change occurs in real time to ensure uninterrupted performance or delivery.

Strategic Management & Alignment Service

The SRS Strategic Management & Alignment Service delivers structures that allow you to actively manage and effectively control the interdependent horizontal and vertical dynamics of your organization continuously align your strategy with your clients’ and stakeholders’ needs, and steer execution of your strategy down to the operational level.

Whether the demand is for organizational transformation, complex systems acquisitions or upgrades, or results-focused Alternative Forms of Delivery to meet increasing customer expectations, SMAS™ is for you.

SMAS™ adopts and incorporates SRS’ core philosophy of continuous alignment with two of SRS’ leading proprietary technologies, i.e. SRM™ and GAPM®, to deliver the results and benefits you are looking for.

SRS helps you enable & facilitate proactive management of the strategic direction of your organization by:

• Aligning organization resources, capabilities and service delivery strategies to organizational vision, objectives and priorities;
• Enabling continuous alignment of dynamic, complex programs and projects with changing strategic direction, risk allocation and desired benefits;
• Facilitating active portfolio management, resource allocation and prioritization, within and/or across projects,  programs & service delivery organizations;
• Providing real-time, continuous management and evaluation of performance, accountability & benefits throughout all phases of the program or project lifecycle;
• Ensuring alignment of program and/or project objectives, scope and deliverables with the organization’s investment strategy and priorities, as these change over time;
• Aligning accountabilities, responsibilities and decision-making authorities with changing program objectives, organizational maturity and approval requirements.

Collaboration has become a critical success factor in the late 20^th and early 21^st Century in realizing the benefits of large, multi-stakeholder projects. It is implicit in and integral to establishment and management of strategic alliances, joint ventures, and partnering relationships – indeed, all forms of cooperative enterprise. It is, in effect, the “glue” that enables multi-stakeholder initiatives to realize their objectives. It is also a critical success factor in collaborative negotiations and results-centred, interest-based mediation and conflict resolution.

In its most basic form, collaboration is about working together. Whether it is chores with the family on Saturday morning, drills with the sports team Sunday afternoon, or managing a large project with multiple stakeholders over the next 6 months, collaboration is critical to a successful outcome. Collaboration is about people. It is about people working together, communicating, consulting and building consensus. It is about people committing to a process that will enable them to focus on a shared objective and to realize the outcome and benefits of their efforts.

SRS Collaborative Engagement Process (CEP™)

SRS’ Collaborative Engagement Process (CEP™) was developed to structure, facilitate and manage this very human, very strategic process. CEP™ is a dynamic, structured and inclusive collaborative process designed to enable leadership initiatives; to mobilize organizational resources; to “break through” mental, structural and systemic barriers; and to bring about “convergence” and “commitment” of critical stakeholders in the cause of outcome and benefits realization.

By “convergence” we mean the process of coming together from different directions to meet at a common point.  In the language of project management, it means rallying multiple stake-holders with diverse interests and priorities around a common vision, strategy and outcome.

CEP™ is a robust, process-centric approach to stake-holder collaboration consisting of three integrated yet distinct and separate modules that can be executed independently or collectively depending on the nature of the project, the desired outcome, and the characteristics of the stakeholder communities:

• Planning Module – A simple but effective methodology to assist team leaders in planning effective stakeholder engagements. The outputs of this Module’ are:

• Consultations Module – A simple but effective methodology to conduct stakeholder and/or other third party consultations where no convergence (i.e. no consensus or “buy-in”) or commitment is required. The output of this Module are:

• Convergence Module – A simple but effective methodology to “converge” diverse stakeholders on a desired outcome and to obtain commitment of stakeholders to participate. The primary output of this Module is a Stakeholders Participation Agreement.