Your strategy on one page with OGSM

With the OGSM methodology you can visualize your company, department or personal strategy on a single page. It is a simple tool that enables organizations to bring the business dream or mission to life at all levels of the organization. Proper application of it ensures that all individual employees know perfectly what direction the organization is heading and what is expected of them to achieve that goal. An ideal tool in the realization of your performance improvement culture!

OGSM is a method that allows to make connections between Objectives (what), Goals (goals) and Strategies (how). The Measures allow for quantitative monitoring and adjustment of the chosen strategy. It is a powerful tool for not only recording the strategy very clearly, but also visualizing it and monitoring progress. The simplicity makes it the perfect support for communication with other organizational units or colleagues.

Top down evangelism

The drafting of an OGSM should first be done at company level – with the company’s mission as a starting point – and can then be rolled out top down company-wide. Certain organizations limit the spread of corporate OGSM to the highest levels, to convert them later into department OGSMs. Individual objectives can then be defined for each employee from this level.

Blog Post OptiMinds the OGSM-model

O(bjectives)
A translation of the mission into qualitative goals.

G(oals)
Breakdown of the various objectives (objectives) into quantitative objectives.

S(trategies)
Concrete measures and actions that must be realized in function of the defined objectives (goals).

M(easures)
The result of the measures taken must be measurable so that the effect and its progress become transparent. Adjustments can be made based on this information.

Example

Goals

Strategies

Measures

G1: Relation improvement

S1.1: More on-site visits

S1.2: Improve soft skills customer

S1.3: 2 satisfaction surveys per year for A and B customers

M1.1.1: # visits in the CRM system

M1.2.1: # training hours HRM system

M1.3.1: Evolution of satisfaction of the CRM system

G2: Reduce the number of complaints

S2.1: Extensive commissioning assistance

S2.2: Faster processing time for complaint handling

S2.3: Conclude more support contracts

M2.1.1: # hours of project system initiation phase

M2.1.2: # complaints complaints system

M2.2.1: lead time complaints system

M2.3.1: # of support contracts concluded

OGSM was developed in 1965 as part of Hoshin-Kanri, a Japanese management methodology. This method is based on a combination of Peter Drucker’s “Management by Objectives” philosophy and Deming’s well-known Plan-Do-Check-Act method. It provides organizations with a systematic and disciplined, yet simple process to develop, communicate and implement a business strategy. It enables all organizational units to focus on a limited number of important goals.