Curious if Hoshin planning is right for your organization
Below, we’ll discuss how to use Hoshin planning, what to focus on if you’re looking for software to manage your Hoshin plan, and some similarities and differences between the Hoshin planning process and the Balanced Scorecard.
If you’ve done any research on how to put a Hoshin plan to use in your organization, you’ve likely found a variety of answers. But at the core of it, there are four critical steps you’ll use to begin your Hoshin planning:
Note: If you do not have a factory floor, when you think of the gemba process, consider what that means for your leadership team being out in the front lines. It could mean spending time with your sales representatives or your software development team or working closely with the team in your customer service department. But you should define it as it pertains to your organization and set a definition both your leaders and front-line employees will understand. You want everyone involved to understand how gemba works in your company specifically, not just the concept in general—so adapting it to fit your organization is critical.
If you’re doing Hoshin planning and you’re looking for software to manage it, you first need to ask: Do you need your software to be able to handle a Hoshin matrix?
A Hoshin matrix is essentially a one-page visual of your objectives, measures and targets, measure programs, and action items. Some strategic planning software can handle the key components of Hoshin planning—but you need to be sure that you can structure your Hoshin planning inside the software you choose.
For example, some Balanced Scorecard software might be perfect for your Hoshin planning—but others might be too rigid or strictly structured around the BSC and not flexible enough for the way you do your Hoshin planning. You should look for software that will meet your approach to planning. It may need a discussion board for online catchball, or it may just need to be able to track projects and measures that align to meet your goals.
Hoshin and the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) are both excellent strategic planning models with quite a bit of overlap—but they do emphasize different things. Here are a few:
A quick word of caution before you get started: Don’t create a hybrid approach to managing your strategy. Merging together a partial-Balanced-Scorecard, partial-Hoshin-planning approach is sure to confuse your team members and steer you further away from your goals. You can make adaptations, but start with the core of one of these approaches in mind.
In other words, there are a lot of approaches to managing and executing your strategy—but it is much less about which one you use, and much more about selecting one and sticking to it. When you stick to one approach, you can better manage it, measure it, and have a systematic approach for executing on it.
Dylan is a Co-Founder and Managing Partner of ClearPoint Strategy and spends his time either in the clouds or in the weeds.