Strategic Development

What we do:

Strategy and Direction Development

For businesses that either haven’t looked too far ahead or those that have, but want to make an independent assessment of their strategy

We work with you using our interactive ICE Strategic Planning tool that uses a rigorous and structured process.

Depending on your management structure and scale of your business we can work just with the owner manager for micro businesses or involve the key management with the owner for larger businesses.

The process will enable the owner manager and his team develop or validate their long term objectives and develop a strategic direction that has been based through a comprehensive and analytical understanding of all the internal and external influences that could affect achievement of those objectives.

Building a plan

For businesses that haven’t undertaken an appropriate level of business planning that ensures optimum utilisation of their human, technical and financial resources.

We work with you, and help to convert your strategic objectives into a time based programme of objectives, targets and actions – what we call a road map to take you from where you are now to where you want to get to and by when

For very small businesses that may be a nothing more than a couple of pages of detail with a spread sheet or for a larger business a more detailed document with departmental plans broken out from the company plan

Your plan will enable you to monitor how your business is doing and importantly indicate where deviations from the plan are occurring enabling you to take timely action to rectify or change an element of the plan. It’s a bit like your dashboard in the car – all the important details to let you know how your car is performing as it follows its route map

Policy Deployment

Many attempts at strategic and business planning fail because businesses fail to obtain and maintain ‘buy’ in from their employees.

The ICE Policy Deployment process has been developed to help owner managers achieve the buy in and importantly make it stick.

We work with you and all relevant levels in the organisation to introduce individual and team accountability for achieving relevant elements of the company’s plan.

You will learn how to implement management disciplines that will ensure that everyone understands what part they have to play in achieving the company plan and importantly each employee or team will contribute to how their element of the plan will be achieved.

You will be introduced to methods for monitoring progress that ensure everyone is heading in the right direction.

Mentoring and Guidance

We in the ICE Partnership understand very well how tough it can be in running a business, particularly if you are an owner manager.

For many SME’s the responsibilities for ensuring that the business succeeds today and in the future requires judgment, knowledge, confidence and the ability to think clearly under pressure.

We have all seen how easy it can be answer the questions on ‘Millionaire’ from the comfort of our settee in front of the TV, and yet when sat in the ‘chair in front of an audience and millions of viewers those questions become suddenly more difficult to answer – doubts set in, confidence wanes when £64,000 is at stake!

And so it can be running the business – suddenly what seems obvious, when put in the context of pressure or risk - suddenly making a decision becomes much more difficult.

As part of the ICE Business Mentoring support process, an experienced ICE mentor who has been there and got the t shirt will work with the owner manager to provide the empathy, guidance and build confidence to take those challenging decisions.

For the process to work, requires a relationship that is based on mutual respect, trust, and an understanding of the needs of the business.

The ICE Mentoring process ensures that the owner manager can work with the right mentor at a frequency that is tailored specifically to the needs of the business.