Strategy session in commercial intelligence

 (principles, participants, products, results)

Before starting our brief excursion into the theory of the issue, please accept my apologies in advance for the level of my English. As I wrote earlier, it is not my native language, but the topic is important. Therefore, if something remains unclear or undisclosed, feel free to write in the comments. We will figure it out, I have a lot to share.

1. Why and when is a strategic session necessary in commercial intelligence?

To answer briefly, the main purpose of a strategic session in commercial intelligence is targeting! Defining (identifying) objects for further study by the forces and means of intelligence. Creation of the very “chain of proactivity” of the company's response to future risks, which you already know from the previous post.

Targeting - the accurate definition, identification and specification of targets for intelligence research, is a key factor in the effectiveness of all intelligence activities. In the intelligence services of many countries of the world there is even a special term – “error as to object”. It characterizes the situation when the object of research selected for intelligence is chosen according to erroneous or incorrect, irrelevant parameters. This leads to the fact that instead of a real actual object, a random (erroneous) object falls under the research and development of exploration. While the real risk may be missed and will be able to have a negative impact on the company's activities.

The strategy session, however, addresses a much broader range of questions and issues related to intelligence and its real-world capabilities.

A strategy session in commercial intelligence is a working event that produces agreed positions on the following range of issues:

·         Where are we at right now? What is the operational environment in terms of current threats and opportunities in the market? What is the most likely development of these risks/opportunities?

·         Real existing problems, ways and methods to overcome or minimize them

·         Birth and development of new technologies? Changes in fashion trends? Likely changes in consumer and customer preferences?

·         What changes in the company's activities are we expecting? (New projects; launch of new products; entering new markets; expansion of the existing market, etc.)

·         What are the most likely risks/opportunities for the planned objectives expected and possible? How and where will they first manifest themselves and how can they be detected?

·         Practical use of real risk minimization measures?

·         Preventive actions to minimize the most likely risks?

·         ...other significant issues to improve the effectiveness of intelligence capabilities.

When is a strategic session in commercial intelligence necessary? There are not so many such cases, and for the most part they are associated with changes in either the state of the market or changes in the activity of the company itself. That is, with an increase in information uncertainty and the emergence of new real objects that require study and research. You will need a strategy session in the following cases:

·         When first building and deploying an intelligence system in your own company.

Who should work in the research or intelligence profile? As you probably already know from HERE, the most effective “scouts” are specialists directly involved in studying or identifying similar or related risks/opportunities. But in order to understand who exactly to involve in this work, you must first determine the question - And what risks will have to be studied? In intelligence ALWAYS and in ALL cases the team is selected - for specific intelligence tasks. A strategy session allows you to do this as accurately as possible.

·         When reviewing and updating tactical and strategic commercial intelligence targets and objectives.

Over time, the risks/opportunities existing in the market lose their relevance and significance. At the same time, new significant risks may emerge.

If the market situation is stable, tactical and intelligence targets are reviewed at least quarterly. Strategic targets are reviewed no more frequently than once every six months.

·         When market conditions change dramatically.

It is necessary to understand and identify new risks/opportunities that may come into play and gain relevance and importance for the company's business activities.

·         When planning to utilize any new strategies, technologies and methods of company's actions in the market.

It is necessary to understand what risks the practical realization of a new strategy of actions on the market will bring to the company and what can be counteracted.

·         In other cases and situations where the company's operations may undergo significant changes.

What new risks/opportunities arise from these changes in activities. What risks, on the contrary, are no longer relevant. The strategy session will help to make sense of this.

2. What will you get as a result?

The ultimate goal of a strategic session in commercial intelligence is to develop the fullest possible “chain of proactivity” for the company's response to future identified risks.

At the end of the strategy session, directly for the purpose of intelligence, you will receive:

·         A set of identified and likely targets, targets (risks/opportunities) for further research.

What is important to remember? These are future risks/opportunities, expected and probable, and the intelligence unit will be looking for traces of these risks. These are not all risks that could happen or will happen. We are working in an uncertain environment and in the course of our work we may discover something new - something that was not predicted earlier in the strategy session. Some risks, on the contrary, may become irrelevant.

The task of intelligence is to work “proactively”. We are not looking for the previously predicted risks/opportunities themselves - they do not exist yet, they belong to the future time - but for their traces. That is, events, phenomena, facts and factors that contribute to the emergence and realization of the previously predicted risk, and assess the probability of its occurrence - BEFORE the risk itself is realized.

What managers leading change (specific projects) or areas of the company get out of the strategy session:

·         A set of specific tools, methods, techniques and mechanisms to minimize specific risks in case of their realization.

What is important to remember? These tools, methods and mechanisms must be flexible and adaptable to change. They must be adaptable to changes in the actual conditions of what is happening. This set of tools developed when forecasting probable risks does not take into account all the real conditions and changes in the situation that will occur in the future and will work when the risk occurs/realizes.

Nevertheless, practical experience in searching for and developing risk minimization mechanisms will be very useful both when dealing with previously forecasted risk (taking into account existing changes in the future) and when dealing with new, previously unforecasted risks of operational nature.

Thus, a strategy session is essentially the creation of a plan of concrete actions in case of occurrence of predetermined risks. The company has a ready-made “proactive chain” at its disposal, including opportunities:

·         proactive detection (detection of risk at the stage of its formation) BEFORE its actual realization;

·         immediate communication (to management and/or those responsible for responding to a particular risk);

·         responding directly and as quickly as possible to risk with a set of pre-designed methods, techniques and response mechanisms.

All this allows the company to act in the conditions of realized risk as quickly and effectively as possible. Now just think about those market participants who do not do such preliminary work and, as a result, do not have similar tools to respond to risks.

Thus, a strategic session in commercial intelligence is not just a “plan of concrete actions”. But a vision of future changes in the company itself, changes in the market in which it operates + a specific “package of decisions” on how to act in the face of identified risks/opportunities.

3. Who to invite to the strategy session?

We must take into account the secrecy of the company's commercial intelligence system, the secrecy and secrecy of the intelligence activities themselves, and the limited number of individuals who are aware of the company's intelligence capabilities. In a number of cases, we resort to legendizing and operationally covering up the company's intelligence capabilities. We remember, don't we? Exactly what issues are under the purview of intelligence! These are literally matters of LIFE and DEATH! Key issues of survival and competitiveness of the company in the market.

It is therefore advisable: all participants should sign a non-disclosure agreement prior to the strategy session.

In the event that the session is planned to be attended by managers and specialists who are not aware of the existence of an intelligence structure in the company, when discussing and finding solutions to the problems of the session, the necessary measures of legend and cover should be taken, which do not allow to reveal the presence of intelligence capabilities in the company. For example, risk identification and forecasting is done simply as part of the forecasting of probable risks and no more. Who exactly does this work, by what methods, and whether they do it at all, remains beyond the scope of discussion.

Based on the overall “architecture” and content of the strategy session, it is reasonable to invite the following participants:

·         managers responsible for running the Ongoing (TACTICAL) business of the company;

·         managers responsible for making STRATEGIC changes in the company's business (responsible for new projects; launching new products; entering new markets; expanding the existing market, etc.);

·         the COO responsible for organizing and conducting intelligence in the company (+ executors of the “forecasting group” - if it has already been created);

·         participants and/or specialists in case of real need;

·         Senior managers, up to and including the CEO, who are aware of the company's intelligence capabilities (to follow up and adjust intelligence work).

4. “Architecture” of a strategy session or what to do?

Let's start with the main one:

The duration of the strategy session is two (2) days minimum.

Strategy session methods - brainstorming + scenario analysis.

Participation in a strategy session may involve working in groups. For example, a group on current (tactical) activities; a group on strategy issues.

First Day

In the first half of the first day of the strategic session, the persons (managers) responsible for specific areas of the company's activities, by brainstorming, forecast and identify the most likely risks/(opportunities) that could significantly complicate the achievement of the company's business goals.

In the afternoon of the first day, the most likely, real and relevant risks are selected from all the risks identified by brainstorming.

Requirements for projected risks/(opportunities):

·         these should be probable but very specific risks;

·         these risks must have real characteristics with the potential to affect business activity and the ability to achieve the company's intended business objectives;

·         acceptance of theoretical risks with the above qualities is allowed;

·         It is NOT allowed to accept for consideration objects with “spherical horse in a vacuum” characteristics! Irrelevant; not in line with the company's scope of activities; unrealistic and without potential impact on the company's business activities.

By the end of the first day of the strategy session, a list of likely and relevant risks/(opportunities) should have been compiled and discussed. In this way, the managers actually define the future intelligence targets for themselves. This removes the problem of perception of the importance and seriousness of risks. After all, it is one thing when someone else, for example, management, without your knowledge, determines for you the risks to be feared. However, you may not see them as dangerous at all. It is quite another thing when you yourself identify significant risks for your line of business and understand their importance.

How many risks should be accepted for the study? Are there any rules and regulations? Be guided by the following rule! The less risks you take for practical study - the better! There cannot be many real risks in the category of “LIFE and DEATH” of the company!

The goal should be to ensure that as few risks as possible, but the most dangerous and realistic ones, fall within the realm of intelligence development. These risks will be the intended objects of study for tactical and strategic commercial intelligence.

Second Day

A couple of hours of the new day should be spent reviewing your existing list of risks/(opportunities). Morning is wiser than the evening! Check again their relevance to the company's upcoming work activities to achieve specific business objectives.

The time left for the rest of the day should be devoted to finding answers and solutions to questions:

·         What exactly and how will we do and how specifically will we respond when risk № 1 occurs/realizes (down the list)?

Having understood the approximate field (sphere) of projected risk realization, mechanism of its development and expected consequences, it is necessary to formulate specific measures and response mechanisms aimed at risk minimization.

Method: Brainstorming + scenario analysis.

It is necessary to work out each risk accepted for consideration and to each risk to make a brief description (plan) of specific mechanisms and response measures for its practical minimization or neutralization.

Having such a plan will help the company's management understand the size and scope of additional funds and resources the company may need to minimize risks. In addition, there may be a “preventive action plan” that needs to be implemented to minimize risks.

For example, if there are real probable problems with raw material suppliers - look for substitutes in advance (just in case); if the business operates in an area where there is a high probability and frequency of changes in the preferences of consumers and customers - track fashion trends, expected technologies, etc. in advance. Thus, in addition to a plan of specific risk response measures, a “preventive action plan” is born.

By the end of the second day of the strategy session, each participant should be clear:

·         what I do, in what order and why when a specific crisis situation occurs, in order to minimize its consequences;

·         where (who will provide) expertise on the problem of emerging risk;

·         what additional resources I can count on and who to contact;

·         with whom I should interact for coordinated actions to minimize risk;

·         a plan is a framework for action, but not a dogma in the changing circumstances of the market and evolving risk.

5. What’s the bottom line?

At the end of the strategic session, each participant should be left with a plan for responding to those risks that are directly within his or her competence and area (sphere) of responsibility.

The company intelligence COO is provided with all material developed during the strategy session, including those risks/(opportunities) that were proposed but subsequently rejected for research. There is still a significant amount of work to be done by the commercial intelligence unit to define and refine the intelligence indikators for the identified risks. More detail on the practical content of this work can be found HERE.

As you have already realized, a strategy session for commercial intelligence purposes is a periodically recurring event to, as they say, “check the clock” and refine our knowledge of changes in the real world.

Do not neglect this activity! It can significantly increase the efficiency of your company's intelligence activities, as well as the efficiency and speed of proactive response to changes in the external market environment.