The true origins of OGSM are unclear, but Procter & Gamble refined and championed the model. OGSM is ArchPoint’s preferred approach to strategy development and execution.ArchPoint’s strategic planning methodology gives an organization the capability to prioritize work and identify required resources. An OGSM is a written and easily communicated statement of an organization’s:

• Objective
• Goals
• Strategies, and
• Measures

OGSM brings alignment, transparency of priorities and metrics that define success. OGSM frames what the business needs to achieve and how it’s going to get there. The OGSM defines success and helps groups work together across functions, geographies and up and down the line. OGSM is a world-class strategy model that transforms objectives, goals, strategies and measures into actionable and executable plans. Many Fortune 500 companies have adopted OGSM to build and execute their strategic plans.

Objectives

Objectives clearly define the team’s overall objective, which should be linked to the team’s ultimate purpose.

This statement describes the ambition of the business and answers the question:

What are we trying to achieve?

An effective Objective statement is not generic or easily adoptable by others; it is a customized, business-specific view of where the business is headed. Importantly, this is not an organization’s vision or mission. Those statements have a longer time horizon. An Objective is a constant and meaningful reminder to the organization about what success looks like in the future

Taking an example of a finance company say XYZ their job is to make money simple by letting customers synchronize their online banking information into one profile. There, customers can see an estimate of their credit score, their current and savings accounts, credit cards, and loan/mortgage information. But they noticed that majority of their customers are more than 40 year age

So, their objective is:

Grow the number of customers in the 16-25 age group

Goals

Break-down the objective into smaller, more attainable goals. Each goal should be defined in a way that it can be clearly tracked and recorded.

These Goals are usually financial and/or operational and make the Objective visible in measurable terms. Goals should be more strategic in nature, defining the financial health and guiding the direction for the strategic choices. The Goals of an organization answer the question, “what must we accomplish financially?” in terms of critical targets.

The XYZ company can set 3 goals, namely:

• Goal 1: Create 30 educational resources by the end of the year that young customers can use to learn about financial matters
• Goal 2: Work with 10 youth/student organizations in the next year
• Goal 3: Host 5 public events in the next year that are aimed towards increasing the financial knowledge of young people

Strategies

Strategies are words that provide explanations and descriptions of specific choices that focus an organization’s plans toward accomplishing the desired Objective and Goals. Create strategies to accomplish each goal by considering what it will take to achieve the goal, your available resources, and your timeline. Strategies are implemented through initiatives and structured work plans called charters.

Strategies tighten choices needed to deliver the Objective, Goals and to win in the market. It’s much more important for Strategies to be written in clear, complete language as opposed to clever headlines.

The company XYZ can undertake the following strategies to accomplish its goals:

Strategies for Goal 1:

• Identify keywords that have high search volume
• Create a content library structure, wherein pages have dedicated keywords to optimize for
• Standardize a process for asset creation (video/illustration)

Strategies for Goal 2:

• Conduct surveys/interviews with persona group members to better understand their needs
• Identify applicable youth/student organizations in the local area/nationwide
• Negotiate activity/promotion activities between the two parties

Strategies for Goal 3:

• Brainstorm/estimate budget for event concepts
• Select event locations (nationwide) and scout venue options
• Create event giveaway collateral
• Schedule social media activity surrounding events (both in-house and encouraged activity from event attendees)

Measures

Measures are numbers that define an organization’s progress toward delivering a Strategy. Define specific, quantifiable metrics that allow you to compare where you are today with what you will achieve in your defined time frame. Each Measure is tracked to determine the progress of a Strategy and used to make decisions regarding any necessary adjustments.

For above mentioned strategies, company XYZ can monitor those by acquiring below mentioned measures:

For Goal 1 Strategies:

• Monthly keyword search volume
• Article word count/image usage
• Video views/view time
• Organic search volume

For Goal 2 Strategies:

• Survey question analysis (approval percentage etc.)
• Contacted/interested engagement list
• Engagement with co-authored content/social media posts

For Goal 3 Strategies:

• Outreach engagement numbers
• Social media impressions, mentions, engagements (including use of encouraged hashtags)
• Goal completions (signups, credit checks etc.)

Advantages

• It helps leaders determine what the organization actually can do based on available resources.
• OGSM leads a team to articulate their strategy on one page
• Keeps the strategy visible throughout an organization.
• Helps rise above and manage from a strategic mindset.

Disadvantages

• Difficult to make it a part of the ongoing management routine
• Cumbersome to modify
• Not easy to use the tool on a monthly and quarterly basis