Sometimes I catch myself with the following thought: how come I have been so extremely busy last month 🏋️‍♀️, but I don’t feel like I’ve done any meaningful, strategic progress? 🤔
That’s why I gathered some ideas on simple steps every finance professional can implement to become more strategic at work:
- Do research on your company’s business
- What are products and services your company offers?
- What are the margins per product?
- What’s the client structure? Which client groups generate most sales? Are there any concentration risks? Are there any non- exhausted cross-selling opportunities?
- Which products/services are providing growth? Which are on the fall?
- What’s the cost structure? What optimization strategy has not yet been used? E.g. maybe there are expiring contracts that may be renegotiated? What has changed compared to previous year?
2. Do research on your industry
- Benchmarking with peers: how does your company’s financial statement compare with competitors? What are the main differences? Are there any significant changes the peers have implemented in the recent years? What are the most important KPIs in your industry and how your company performs compared to peers?
- What’s the most significant historical milestones in the industry and what are the trends?
- Who’s the industry disruptor and how are they different from the key players?
- Are there any trends in different industries that could be applied to yours?
3. Talk to different departments
- Sales department: ask them which products are selling well and which not and why? What’s the pipeline? What are the most typical client objections related to products and services? What do clients say about competition? How have the clients behaviours changed in the last years and what’s the trend? What are their KPIs and what statistics would help in their daily work?
- Product department: what are the projects they work on? What’s the future of industry? What are the typical client complaints related to products? What’s the cost structure? What are their KPIs and what statistics would be useful in their daily tasks?
4. Deepen your understanding of business strategy
- What’s your company mission? What’s the strategy to achieve this mission?
- What’s the biggest strategic moves of the few past years and what’s in the pipeline for the next years? Are those goals truly reflected in the budget?
5. Network with other finance professionals
- Don’t reinvent the wheel: if you have a particular challenge in your job, ask your peers; there is a 99% chance that someone already had a similar situation and can support you.
- Help others solve their problems.
- The world is small – you never know where you meet them again!
6. Take part in company-wide projects
- It’s a great opportunity to gain a better understanding of other departments and connect with people within your organization.
- What’s the goal of this project and how does it fit into a broaden strategy?
- Don’t forget about lessons learned – how can you implement them in your daily job?
7. Find a person or community that will support you
- Find someone who has achieved what you wish to achieve and ask them for guidance. This can save you some painful mistakes and accelerate your development.
- Find communities that can provide you with valuable information.
- Actively ask for feedback within and outside of your organization.
