Strategy Implementation: The 6 Step Process

Strategy implementation is the process utilized to ensure that a strategic plan is executed. In other words, it's implementing and executing ... Product Solutions Enterprise Learn Pricing Partners SignIn Overview CascadeOverview Buildstrategicplans,tasks,&achievethosegoals. Integrations Bringallyourappstogether&achievestrategicclarity. CustomerStories SeehowCascadealignsteams,andexecutesstrategicgoalsinorganizations. StrategyExecutionSoftware Strategyisn'tathingthatyoudoinadditiontobusiness.Itisyourbusiness. Features Plans Projects&Goals GoalDeck Dashboards&Reports CascadeMaps KPIs&OKRs ProductTour BookaDemo Signupforfree Tryforfree WaystouseCascade StrategicPlanning OKRs PortfolioManagement Transformation RolesthatloveCascade Executives Operations StrategyPlanners PortfolioManagers TransformationManagers CascadeforEnterprise ProductTour BookaDemo Signupforfree Tryforfree Learn StrategyFactory TheWikipediaofstrategy.Keynotes,interviews,reports. 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RegisterfreeforWorldStrategyDay Enterprise Customers BecomeaPartner Pricing StrategyImplementation StrategyImplementation: The6StepProcess byTomWright,onJun6,2022 TableofContents WhatisStrategyImplementation? Strategyimplementationistheprocessutilizedtoensurethatastrategicplanisexecuted.Inotherwords,it'simplementingandexecutingwhatyousaidyouwoulddowhenyouplannedthestrategy!Andas9outof10organizationsfailtoexecutetheirstrategy, theneedforproperimplementationisvital! Thesixstepsinourstrategyimplementationprocessensurethatyourstrategyevolvesfromastatic,inactiveplanintoaliving,evolvingimplementation.Readourarticleonfactorsaffectingstrategyimplementationtodevelopanevendeeperunderstandingofstrategicimplementation. TheStrategyImplementationProcessin6steps  Defineyourstrategyframework Buildyourplan DefineKPIs Establishyourstrategyrhythm Implementstrategyreporting Linkperformancetostrategy Followour6stepprocessguidetostrategyimplementationbelowtoensureyourstrategyevolvesfromaplantostrategicimplementation.  Downloadourfreestrategicplanningtemplatetohelpgetyoustartedonyour2022strategy! Step#1:Defineyourstrategyframework Strategyissomethingthatshouldbeembeddedineverythingthatyoudo. ItshouldbeintheDNAoftheorganizationanditspeople.But,ontheotherhand,ifyoudon'tmakeanefforttocallitoutexplicitly,youwon'tgetthefocusortractionyouneed. So,youneedtostartwithasimpleframeworkthatintroducesastrategylexiconthateveryonecanunderstandandgetbehind.Whensomeoneasks“howareourstrategicobjectivesgoing”-everyoneshouldbeonexactlythesamepageaboutwhatthatactuallymeans. AtCascade,weusethefollowing“strategyhouse”todefinethedifferentelementsofourstrategy: WewalkyouthroughthisapproachinourHowtoWriteaStrategicPlanGuide,whereyou’llalsofindafreetemplateyoucandownloadtojump-startthedevelopmentofyourstrategy. Itgivesyouaclearwaytotalkaboutstrategyimplementationandavoidsusingunnecessaryjargon. We'vedeliberatelychosentoincludeonlyavisionstatementratherthanthemorepopular“visionandmission”combobecausewefoundthatpeoplestruggletounderstandthedifferencebetweenthosetwo. Confusionofanykindisthelastthingwewantwhentalkingaboutstrategyimplementation,soweincludedonlyavisionstatement. Ifyouneedtoaddmoredepthtoyourstrategy,considerusingastrategyframeworksuchastheBalancedScorecardorMcKinsey'sStrategicHorizons.Readthisguidetohelpyoudecidewhichframeworkisrightforyou. Whicheverframeworkyouchoose,though,besuretokeepthingsassimpleaspossible.(Alloftheframeworksinourguidepassthistestwithflyingcolors!). Step#2:Buildyourplan Thenextstepofourstrategyimplementationprocessiswhereyouwillstartcreatingyourplan. Nowthatyou'vegotyourframework(s)inplace,you'rereadytomoveontotheactualcreationofyourstrategicplan.We'vedevelopedacomprehensiveguideonhowtowriteastrategicplan,sowewon'tcoverthatagainhere. Butassumingyou'reusingaframeworksimilartotheoneabove,here'showwe'dsuggestapproachingthecreationofyourplan: The7Stepstobuildyourstrategicimplementationplan 1.Gathertheleadersoftheorganization(founders,CEO,directors,etc.)toagreeonyourvision.Youmightdothisinoneworkshop,buthavethemengagedwithitregularly.Havethemreadthisarticletokeepeveryoneonthesamepage.2.Atthesameworkshop,starttowritedownthevaluesthattheorganizationholds.They’recrucialforyourcompany’sculture,sogothroughthisposttomaketheprocesssmoother.3.Finally(sameworkshopstill),writedown3or4StrategicFocusAreastheteamthinkstheyneedtobeaddressedinordertoreachthevision.4.Pause.Don'tbetemptedtomoveontocreatingstrategicobjectivesjustyet.5.Takeyourbasicframeworkbacktoyourteam(s)andhavethemindependentlyinputideasforstrategicobjectivesundereachFocusArea.YoumightwanttoassignoneFocusAreatoeachmemberofyourleadershipteamandhavethemleadthechargeforgettingthatFocusAreafleshedout.Thisisagreatwaytoensurebuy-intothefinalproductofyourstrategicplan.6.Onceyou'vefleshedoutthestrategicobjectives,getbacktogetherasagroupandaskyourselfaseriesofhardquestions: IfwedelivereachofthesestrategicobjectivesunderagivenFocusArea,willwehavenailedthatFocusArea? IfwedeliverallofourFocusAreas,willwereachourvision? Willourvalueshelporhinderusalongtheway? 7.Ifyou'regreenacrosstheboard,it'stimetogoaheadandlaunchyourstrategicplan SkipProjectsandKPIs(fornow) Youmightnoticethatwehaven'tcoveredthebottomlayerofourstrategyhouseyet:projectsandKPIs. That'sbecausepartofthestrategyimplementationprocessshouldempowerpeoplethroughouttheorganizationtocomeupwiththeirownprojects. Nowthatyou'vegotasolidfoundationinplace,therisksofthatprocessaregreatlydiminishedandwillhelpyougainmomentumandbuyintoyourstrategicplan. Step#3:DefineKPIs Youneedawaytomeasureprogresstowardsyourstrategicobjectives. Inotherwords,step3ofourprocessguidetostrategyimplementationistodefineyourKPIs. Keyperformanceindicatorsareoneoftheoldestmanagementtoolsaround.Andforagoodreason–theywork.Theykeepyouhonestaboutyourprogressandfocusedonyouroutcomes. Theyneedtobecomeyourbeaconsforimplementingstrategy.Hereareafewtipswhenitcomestocomingupwithyourown-andsomeexamplesofKPIsthatweuseinourSaaSbusiness. Keepthemsimple.Don'ttrytocomeupwithcomplexratiosthatonlyasmallgroupofpeopleunderstand.Makethemsimpleandrelatabletoeveryoneintheorganization. Chooseatleast1KPIforeachofyourstrategicobjectives.Morethanoneisfine-butkeepthetotalnumberfortheorganizationtonomorethan6or7. Makeiteasytomeasurethemquickly.We'veseengreat-lookingKPIsthatcanonlystarttobemeasuredyearsafterthestrategybegins.Thatsimplyisn'tgoingtoworkforkeepingyourstrategyimplementationeffortsfocusedintheearlydays. Don'tmakethemallaboutthe$$$.Sure,profitandrevenuemightbeyourend-game,butKPIsshouldbethedriversofthosethings-measuringtheoutcomesaloneaddslittlevalue. HereareourfocusareasandtheKPIsweuseforeach: FocusArea KPIs ClientsFindUs -Numberofwebsitevisitspermonth-Sizeofactivemailinglist ClientsSubscribe -Freetrialtopaidconversionrate ClientsStay&Grow -ClientNPS-Averagelengthofasubscription(days)-Averagerevenueper subscription APlatformtobeProudOf -Averagerankonproductreviewsites PushTheIndustryForward -TotalGooglesearchesforindustrykeywords DevelopingOurPeople -Staffturnoverrate   WecandoabitbetterforourKPIsinthe“Industry”and“People”space.Butoverall,theseKPIshavebeenahugepartofhelpingusimplementourstrategy. Onefinalpoint:YouneedtoupdatetheprogressofyourKPIsatleastoncepermonth,oryouriskquicklylosingfocusonthem.Spendthetimenowaspartofyourstrategicplanningprocesstofigureouthowtoaccessthestatsanddatayouneed. CheckoutourfreedownloadableKPITemplatetohelpyouwithyours! Step#4:Dealwithbusiness-as-usual Step4ofourprocessguidetostrategyimplementationiswhereyouovercomebusiness-as-usual. Theironicthingaboutstrategyimplementationisthateveryoneacknowledgesitsimportance,butit'softenthefirstthingtobeforgottenaboutwhenthegoinggetstough. Peoplegetsocaughtupintheday-to-daythattheydon'thavetimetofocusonthebigpictureitemsthatwillkeeptheorganizationmovingforward.Thisrapidlybecomesaself-fulfillingcycleandisoneofthemostcommonreasonsstrategiesfail. HowyoudealwithBAU Meetoftentodiscussprogress-We'dsuggestaminimumofquarterlyreviewsforhigherlevelobjectives,butmonthlywouldbeagreatplacetostartoffuntilthingsgetbeddedin. Determinetheattendees-You'llneedtheleadershipteamataminimum-butyoualsoneedtoinvolvetherestoftheorganization.Themoretheyengagewiththeoverallstrategy,thestrongertheownershiptheyfeel. Beconsciousoftime-Specifytheendtimeandalwaysrespectit.Allocatethelast10minutes(orasmanyasyouneed)to“nextsteps”.Reviewingprogresswithoutthenextstepsismeaningless. Definethemeetingstructurebeforehand-Whatmetricswillyoudiscuss?Forhowlong?Whichreportswillbeused?Moreonthisinstep#5below Howtoadaptyourstrategyfastandalignyourpeoplewithit Regulardiscussionsonprogresscanonlygetyousofar,withouttherightmentalityandtools. Bedecisiveandgoallin.Noplanisperfect,sodon’tgettooattachedtoit.Whenyouspotopportunitiesormistakesinyourreviewingmeetings,actonthemdecisively. Changeisnotonlynaturalbutnecessarytolearnandadaptatlightspeedtothemarket’sconditions. Goodstrategiesguidedecision-making.Frameyourstrategyaschoices.Thecompany’sdirectionmustbeclearenoughthatiteducatesyourpeople’sdecisionswhentheyreachacrossroad. Andtheyreachcrossroadsmultipletimesperday. Getridofstatictools.Thetruthis,withoutadynamictool,theprocessofrefiningyourstrategyfacestremendousfriction. Thatcoststime,peaceofmindand,attheendoftheday,money.Cascaderemovesthisfrictionfromallthestagesofyourstrategyrefinementfromplanningtoreporting,evenaligning. Step#5:Implementconsistent&simplestrategyreports Step5ofourprocessguidetostrategyimplementationfocusesonreporting. Nowthatyourmeetingsareinplace,you'llwanttochooseaconsistentwayofreportingtheprogressofyourstrategyimplementation.Themainobjectivesofthisreportshouldbe: Consistency Everyoneknowswhattoexpectandwhattheyneedtoupdatepriortothemeeting(s). Simplicity Thereportshouldgiveanat-a-glanceviewofhowthestrategyisprogressing. Accountability Ensurethatthereportincludesthenamesoftheownerofeachgoal(accountability),aswellasthenamesofthepeopleactuallygettingthingsdone(recognition). Conclusions Yournextsteps.Thereportneedstoincludenotonlyanoverviewofhowthestrategylooksnowbuthowit'sprogressingovertime.Trytoincludeacomparisonperiodorgraphs/chartsthatshowprogressovertimetoensuremomentumismaintained. Step#6:Strategyimplementationinstrategicmanagement  Linkingperformancereviewstostrategy,thefirstfivestepsofourprocessguidetostrategyimplementationaretheabsolutebasicstoensurethatyouhavesuccessimplementingandexecutingyourstrategy. Butorganizationswhotrulysucceedarethosewhomanagetoweavestrategyimplementationintothefabricoftheirexistence.Aneasywaytogetstartedwiththisistocreateaformallinkbetweenstrategicmanagementandperformancereviews. Nothingshowspeoplehowimportantstrategyismorethanwhenitimpactstheirreviewsandpotentiallyeventheirrewardandremuneration.Thereareafewwaysthatyoucandothis. First,investinastrategicmanagementsystemthathastheseperformancereviewlinksbuiltintoitsHRprocesses. Butevenifyou'redoingperformancereviewstheold-fashionedway,youcanstillmakeapointofawardingspecificcredittoemployeeswhoembracestrategyexecutionintheirroleandcanclearlydemonstratehowthey'vecontributed. Second,encourageyourmanagerstotalktopeopleaboutstrategyonaregularbasis.Considercreatinga1:1templatethatmanagerscanusewhichhighlightshowaperson'sgoalscontributetothestrategy. Finally,exposeyourstrategytoyourpeople.IfyouonlypresentyourstrategyinPowerPoint,peoplewon’trememberthem. Helpyourpeoplealignwiththeplanbyhavingthemaccessitatwill. Workingyourwaythroughour6stepprocessguidetostrategyimplementationisn'tsomethingyou'llbeabletodoovernight.Itwilltakeagoodfewweeksandprobablyafewiterations.Butdon'tletthatbeanexcusenottostart. Wecantellyouwithoutquestionthatwhenourclientsfollowtheaboveprocess,theirstrategyimplementationplansucceedsfarmoreoftenthanitfails.Thisisanintegralcomponentinstrategicmanagementandshouldn'tbeoverlooked. TakeatouroftheCascadeplatformtoseehowitcanhelpyouimplementthesesteps. 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