It’s fall in Dallas, finally. Fall is wonderful; it means we are finally done with triple-digit heat. The days are getting shorter and cooler. Dallas Stars hockey starts next week with a new head coach and high expectations. The Oberg team and I just got back from a great time in San Antonio at the TAPPI Corr Expo. And, while Oberg and Associates, LLC has had a wonderful 2022, we have Q4 remaining to make sure we hit all of the goals we have committed to achieving
These remaining goals are contained in the Company’s 2022 Strategic Objective. This is a document that I create every 4th Quarter, to be revealed in the first week of the new year. Stated simply, it is a document in which I provide clarity to every employee on what we will be pursuing in the next calendar year. It provides both the macro and the micro vision for our collective efforts. To the degree that it is understood and embraced by the entire team, everyone can recognize how their individual efforts contribute to the desired outcome of the team.
The macro goals are obviously the goals based on the outcome of our collective efforts. They include our revenue goal, our staffing goal, our organizational chart goals, and our service delivery goals. They also redefine our market(s), our methods, and our mechanisms. For the sake of clarity, we are a small company. We have 9 employees, with one of those being remotely located in the Philippine Islands. And, we are a service company. We have no inventory or capital equipment. Everything we provide to our clients comes in the form of intellectual and service value. As our marketing tagline indicates, the value we bring to our market is offered on the platform of “Hard Results”.
The micro goals provide clarity and detail of how the macro goals will be achieved. First, it will define the individual components of our company culture:
Open and honest communication
Mutual respect
Hard Results
These tenets are expected from everyone inside our company and define how we will interact with the marketplace outside our company as well. The micros also will define the tools used to measure both company and individual performance. It defines our key metrics and the expectations for each role. Each role then understands how their performance and contribution flow into that of the team, and the company. These metrics allow each employee to understand their personal accountabilities, and to self-evaluate their work performance.
The last part of the Strategic Objective provides detail regarding the accountabilities that Oberg and Associates, LLC has to each of its employees. It speaks to our company benefits, healthcare, retirement, vacation, personal time off, etc. It speaks to the resources that the company will provide to pursue individual metrics. It speaks to the training schedule and resources. It articulates career tracks, income schedules, company trips, incentives, and opportunities for personal and career enhancements. As is the case with the entire document, this section must provide specific detail, and be based on fact as I will be held accountable to deliver on each item.
When completed and distributed to the team, the Strategic Objective should provide clarity, detail, and perhaps most importantly, a sense of leaning forward into the company goals for next year. These goals will be ambitious. They will require a vigorous, and sustained effort. The team will overcome obstacles that the individual will find impossible. A positive mindset is essential for my team to successfully execute in the future. This mindset is built with bricks of confidence, forged through adversity, and honed with achievement. Our Strategic Objective is a simple vehicle in this pursuit.
Sorry if I went a little Knute Rockney here.
Stay Strong!!
Outside the Box 