How should we decide what to focus on?

Items To Consider

In deciding what questions to focus on and in what order there are three core questions to be answering:

1. How does that question fit with the company strategy?
2. How easy/medium/hard will the particular question be to implement?
3. How many points does that question offer?

Company Strategy

There are two components to the company strategy that you need to consider your B Corp journey being in synergy (and not in friction) with.

Philosophically. Hopefully, you have spent some time prior to deciding to pursue B Corp on why it matters. The bigger, grander idea that (your) business is in service to, the risks and opportunities of being in business in the 21st Century and the ethical imperatives that are important to you and your community. Spending some time on this question as a whole company will lift some issues to the surface.

Practically. With the bigger picture in place, you also have more tactical strategic decisions to make: what you are focusing on, what timeframes they will be across, what areas etc.

Easy/Medium/Hard

Whilst the BIA is sector and size relevant, it is never bespoke. Every company will find varying questions more or less challenging. Don't presume what was true for someone else will be true for you. This isn't just a question of how hard might the specific task may be regardless of the company, it is also about who you have internally: their interests, enthusiasms, ambitions etc - what your people have innate willingness and excitement to invest their time and energy in. What might be hard for someone else to complete may be just as much work for you but an awful lot easier to deliver because your people are really keen to be doing it.

Point Scoring

There are a range of points available, the higher scoring points being more meaty implementation challenges. Building momentum with smaller points can be an encouraging experience but you may need to balance that with some questions that will catapult you forward a bit more.