Strategy Implementation
One day I received a call from one of my clients who told me that their organization had gone through a strategic planning process. The company had gone through a generational transition (The nephew of the founder was now the new CEO) and the planning process was put in place to build on the strengths of the busness’s history but with an updating for the new leader’s goal. But now that the plan was done, they were unsure of the best way to implement the plan…Here is what we did next.
After meeting with the new CEO it was decided that he would meet with all the corporate managers and present the new strategic plan.
In addition, the management team would break into work groups and begin to develop the approach to implement the strategic plan. Work teams included:
- Insure that the organization had the resources to implement the strategy
- Were staff adequately trained?
- Who would take on what tasks?
- Ensure that administrative support was in place
- Do policies and procedures support the new strategy?
- Is the Information Management System properly positioned to support the program?
- Does the workplace culture including customer services match up to the strategy
- How good a fit is the new strategy to current marketing and operational activities?
- How will the new strategy be introduced to customers?
- Shaping the Corporate Culture
- How will employees become stakeholders of the new strategy?
- How will the corporate workday change as a result of the new strategy?
- What is the budget for implementation
- How will rewards and incentives be used to influence the implementation of the strategy?
- How can we drill down the changes to individual departments and work groups?
Getting all team members on the same page led to the successful implementation of the new strategy.
For most companies, the focus is often on developing the strategy but not on implementing!
By adding a Planning phase prior to the implementation, the strategic initiative became a success.