Strategic Execution

It’s estimated that more than 60% of business strategies are not successfully implemented. Simply defining strategy is useless without a plan for execution. Without an actionable plan for implementation, all the strategy in the world will not help your organization thrive and grow. Successful Strategy Execution directly links organizational strategy to operations.

Successful Strategy Execution requires: Strategy, People & Operations

Define & Communicate the Strategy:  Once an organization’s strategy has been planned, it must be communicated throughout the organization. People and departments must have a clear idea of what the business strategy is, why it is important, what their role is in the strategy and what decisions and accountability they have for the strategy. Measurable strategy:  Key elements of the organization’s strategy should be assigned an easily understood performance measure.  The full set of strategic performance measures can be organized into a dashboard, a Balanced Scorecard, or other framework so leaders can determine if progress is being made, or see where changes or improvements need to happen. Reporting:  Strategy should be reviewed regularly, with  an eye toward determining if the strategy is producing results. Decisions:  As part of the regular reporting process, leaders must make ongoing strategic decisions to keep the strategy current and on course. Identify & Align strategy projects.  The first step in improving project-oriented strategy execution is to identify and organize all projects that are underway in the organization. Projects must be analyzed  to determine if they align with the overall organizational strategy. Projects that do not align with current strategy should be looked at with an eye toward whether they should be changed to reflect current organizational strategy or discontinued. Project Management:  Organizations must develop a successful project management process to execute strategy effectively. Ongoing projects in any organization should be coordinated and controlled by a central project office or officer with the responsibility for monitoring both progress and performance. Align Roles:  Employees should know they are making a meaningful contribution to their organization’s success.  It’s up to leaders to ensure that employees at all levels can define and evaluate their personal roles toward achievement of specific organizational goals. Performance Rewards:  In strategy execution, as in any other area of management, what gets measured gets done.  Taking this one step further, what get measured and rewarded gets done faster.  After explaining the strategy and aligning the workforce to it, senior managers institute the incentives that drive behaviors consistent with the strategy. Advisory & Consulting Services works with companies and organizations to develop actionable plans that will provide both high level direction as well as the detail necessary to make strategy execution a success.