strategy execution Archives - The Finance Team

You’ve sweated hard to build your company to where it is today. Part of that has meant working many long hours crafting your business strategy, only to find out that most people working in the company either don’t know what the strategy is all about or are failing to execute your vision.

Over the years, companies have learned the hard way that implementing strategy requires a certain approach. There are things that help with strategy execution, and unfortunately, things that hinder it too. It helps to know what not to do in order to ensure success. Here are three mistakes not to make when embarking on your strategy execution:

1. Failing to align the plan with business processes.

Your perfect plan on paper will only translate into reality if it works in tandem with the way things are done in your business. For example, your strategy might outline an aim to have a healthy cash flow at all times. All well and good, but if your company only invoices customers 15 days after providing a service, or pays on the 15^th day instead of the 30^th, then your plan for ample cash could be thwarted. Operational requirements need to be carefully considered and adjusted to meet strategic aims. This requires buy-in from all levels of management and agreement on how strategy execution will meet these objectives.

2. Viewing implementation as a task for lower management.

Lawrence Hrebiniak, professor of Management from Wharton business school and author of Making Strategy Work, says top management should avoid seeing strategy as their own responsibility and execution as everyone else’s.

Such an attitude works on the assumption that other levels of management understand and care about the company’s strategy to the same extent as you do, which is not always the case. Often, middle management is so caught up in the immediate requirements of meeting targets and staying on schedule, for example, that they have little time to reflect on how their actions translate for the broader strategy of the business. A tendency to assume that different groups will take on distinct roles relating to the strategy execution process can create “cultural rifts and poor communication”, Hrebiniak says.

3. Assuming that strategy will motivate.

A strategy is a long-term plan of action for the company, designed to achieve a particular set of goals. It is a statement of intent, rather than a motivational pitch to staff members. In order to gain buy-in from your employees and thus ensure the success of your strategy execution, you need to communication the benefits of the plan. Hrebiniak points out that it’s necessary to show each employee how a successful strategy execution will translate into tangible benefits for them. Hold meetings and internal launches if necessary – but do what you need to do to ensure that buy-in has taken place, rather than assuming that the strategy on its own will attract a following.

By avoiding these three mistakes, your strategy execution will have a greater chance of being effectively implemented throughout the business.

If you have some big goals in mind, but don’t know how to translate them into a workable plan, or if you simply need some help with your strategy or its execution, The Finance Team can assist. Our associates include qualified, experienced strategists who can help give you insight into turning your company’s visions into a reality. They can provide ad hoc or ongoing input, according to the needs of your company.

Image credit: http://www.lingholic.com/

A recent client engagement required us to assist an organisation from being an ‘also ran’ to a leading player in its designated market through a strategy execution and revitalisation process. The CEO was adamant before we started that he understood what the critical pivots were to take his organisation to the next level. In this blog, I share 3 of the critical levers or pivots required for successful strategy execution.

Pivot 1. What is your game plan?

Good Strategy comes first! Clarify your strategy so well so that there is no uncertainty as to what needs to be delivered, how this needs to be done, by whom, by when and how this will be measured.

Probably the most critical ingredient in any strategy execution process is to have a business plan and related detailed action plans that clearly articulate where the company is heading to. Beyond the mission statement and the business plan should be the vision. We can’t get to the destination, let alone get people excited to follow, if we don’t know where we are heading.

Given the rate at which technology is advancing and the onslaught of competitors on a daily basis, no company can truly succeed if it has not got sight of exactly where it is right now vs. where it wants to be. I think one of the major challenges facing any CEO is simply this: do I know or do I need an independent insight and view as to where we really are as a company?

Perhaps one of the most important elements to unpack in the business plan is to unpack the following:

Who is our ideal customer?
How relevant is our value proposition?
Have we got the right talent to deliver the strategy?
Do we really have a business model that can compete?
Can we still maintain our competitive edge and margins?
What impact is technology having on our business model and what are we doing about it?

In too many instances have I seen CEOs adopt the view that they don’t really need outside expertise and would rather just rely on their own company data and internal evaluations. Whichever path you choose, ensure that you have detailed action plans and action steps which can be driven by people in the company and assign responsibility to a specific individuals for accomplishing each of those action steps. This also requires you to firm-up exactly what numbers are to be delivered and the criteria for measuring them.

Pivot 2. Bringing the best people with the best skills and competencies to the best opportunities

Successful strategy execution process requires that the organisation communicate & cascade its strategy across the length and breadth of its personnel structure.

Next is having key people in key places and successful strategy implementation is going to demand that the organization’s organisational structure can deliver the intended strategy.

Organizations successful at strategy execution consider the human resource factor in making strategies happen. Further, they realize that the human resource issue is really a two part story. First, consideration of human resources requires that management think about the organization’s communication needs. That they articulate the strategies so that those charged with developing the corresponding action steps (tactics) fully understand the strategy they’re to implement.

Organisations that have been successful at strategy implementation have done one thing better than most and it is simply this: they bring their best staff and talent to the best opportunities.

3. Execution Excellence & Measurement

For an effective strategy execution, responsibility and accountability must be clear.

Without this clarification of roles and responsibilities for critical tasks and outcomes, you will have a tough time getting strategy implemented. Monitoring and controlling the plan includes a periodic look to see if you’re on course. It also includes consideration of options to get a strategy once derailed back on track. Remember, what gets measured, gets done and you need to be dedicated about tracking, reporting and taking timely actions based on key indicators of their business growth.

Photo credit: campbellmacpherson.co.uk