Keys to A Successful Strategy
 | Michael Couch, President |
It's that time of year again. For many organizations, arrival of the fourth quarter means its time to review, update, or develop strategic plans.
Unfortunately, many companies are not pleased with their planning process and do not feel that it's worth the time invested. This doesn't have to be the case.
Here's some tips that can help make your process energizing and well worth the effort.
Protect the Plan
No plan is perfect. No forecast is perfect. Every contingency can never be completely addressed. However, the right people and process can identify the potential threats to a plan, assess their likelihood and impact, and develop specific actions based on how likely the threats can be detected. This is like a Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) for the Plan.
The same should be developed for the upside. What could potentially cause us to be above Plan and, if so, what can we do to try to capitalize on it?
Assure that the Organization is Capable
Once the strategy is developed, senior leaders must assure that the organization has the capability to handle the demands placed on it by the strategy.
The demand the strategy places on the organization must be assessed (i.e., What are the mission critical functions and capabilities, What are the pivotal positions?, What type of work culture does it suggest), the organization capability must be analyzed (i.e., Do we have the right people in the right roles doing the right things, Are we filling the talent pipeline, Does our culture support the strategy?) and any gaps addressed by a detailed organization development action plan (i.e., reorganize, recruit, key talent retention and development, culture change initiative).
Use A Comprehensive Deployment Process
For effective execution, the strategy and value drivers must be obvious to all key stakeholders. The best examples of this in action are in companies committed to Lean Manufacturing/Six Sigma. The Strategy Deployment techniques utilized by these firms assure a clear linkage from strategy to annual business plans to department/process objectives down to individual employee performance plans (What Toyota called the "catch ball" process). Key process and performance measures are prominent in all communications tools including company and process dashboards. Even the agendas for regular business review meetings are built around components of the strategy.
(Read more about Keys to a Successful Strategy)
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