A 1999 Fortune magazine article estimated that 70 percent of CEOs who fail do not fail because their strategy is bad. They fail because the strategy is poorly executed. It is not enough to have a vision; you have to be able to make it happen. A strategy is only as effective as how is it is implemented. While many take a lot of time to develop their strategy, you need to spend the time to consider approaches to a strategic planning implementation process.
Review Your Strategic Plan
When drawing up your strategic plan, make sure that it can indeed be implemented. You'll need all the resources necessary to implement it, like staff, materials, expertise and capital. If you don't, you need to learn if can you get it and how. Your pursuit of all the pieces of the puzzle dictate time lines and sequence of implementation steps. Without proper consideration of these problems, you may be setting yourself up for failure. It is great to be ambitious in your planning, but you also have to be realistic and do your due diligence.
Outline Implementation Steps
Outline the steps that will be necessary to make your plan happen. Determine how long the implementation process needs to take and identify the team of people you will need work on the projects involved in your plan. Source out your material needs and get your capital and investors on board.
Involve Your Team
Gather the team that will be key to implementing your plan. Get its feedback about the plan, the feasibility of the plan and steps, the sequence and the time line. Since the team will be doing the work of completing this project, it needs to be involved in the development process so that team members can help it to be successful. Listen to what your team members say with open consideration and make the appropriate changes to your plan.
Benchmarks and Accountability
Create benchmarks to measure progress on the plan. Encourage open discussion among the implementation team and with you, so everyone is aware of what is going on and can adjust their roles accordingly. Set up a process that builds accountability; this promotes responsible project management by everyone involved.
Working With Your Team
Schedule regular meetings with your team to review progress and to discuss possible sources for any problems. Come up with resolutions together and follow through. Empower team leaders to take control of the implementation process; do not micromanage every little step. Your job is to oversee the process and make sure it adheres to the original vision behind the strategic plan. Suggest possible shifts in direction when you see the process going off course, but let your team decide how to make the actual corrections.
Review Your Strategic Plan
When drawing up your strategic plan, make sure that it can indeed be implemented. You'll need all the resources necessary to implement it, like staff, materials, expertise and capital. If you don't, you need to learn if can you get it and how. Your pursuit of all the pieces of the puzzle dictate time lines and sequence of implementation steps. Without proper consideration of these problems, you may be setting yourself up for failure. It is great to be ambitious in your planning, but you also have to be realistic and do your due diligence.
Outline Implementation Steps
Outline the steps that will be necessary to make your plan happen. Determine how long the implementation process needs to take and identify the team of people you will need work on the projects involved in your plan. Source out your material needs and get your capital and investors on board.
Involve Your Team
Gather the team that will be key to implementing your plan. Get its feedback about the plan, the feasibility of the plan and steps, the sequence and the time line. Since the team will be doing the work of completing this project, it needs to be involved in the development process so that team members can help it to be successful. Listen to what your team members say with open consideration and make the appropriate changes to your plan.
Benchmarks and Accountability
Create benchmarks to measure progress on the plan. Encourage open discussion among the implementation team and with you, so everyone is aware of what is going on and can adjust their roles accordingly. Set up a process that builds accountability; this promotes responsible project management by everyone involved.
Working With Your Team
Schedule regular meetings with your team to review progress and to discuss possible sources for any problems. Come up with resolutions together and follow through. Empower team leaders to take control of the implementation process; do not micromanage every little step. Your job is to oversee the process and make sure it adheres to the original vision behind the strategic plan. Suggest possible shifts in direction when you see the process going off course, but let your team decide how to make the actual corrections.