Keys to Successful Strategy Execution

1. Commit to a Strategic Plan

Before diving into execution, it’s important to ensure all decision-makers and stakeholders agree
on the strategic plan.
Committing to a strategic plan before beginning implementation ensures all decision-makers and
their teams are aligned on the same goals. This creates a shared understanding of the larger
strategic plan throughout the organization.
Strategies aren’t stagnant—they should evolve with new challenges and opportunities.
Communication is critical to ensuring you and your colleagues start on the same page and stay
aligned as time goes on.

2. Align Jobs to Strategy

One barrier many companies face in strategy execution is that employees’ roles aren’t designed
with strategy in mind. This can occur when employees are hired before a strategy is formulated,
or when roles are established to align with a former company strategy. In Strategy Execution,
Jobs are optimized for high performance when they line up with an organizational strategy.
When the settings are right, one can design a job in which a talented individual can successfully
execute your company’s strategy. But if you get the settings wrong, it will be difficult for any
employee to be effective.”

3. Communicate Clearly to Empower Employees

Strategy execution depends on each member of your organization's daily tasks and decisions, so
it’s vital to ensure everyone understands not only the company's broader strategic goals, but how
their individual responsibilities make achieving them possible.
To boost your organization’s performance and empower your employees, train managers to
communicate the impact of their team's daily work, address the organization in an all-staff
meeting, and foster a culture that celebrates milestones on the way to reaching large strategic
goals.

4. Measure and Monitor Performance

Strategy execution relies on continually assessing progress toward goals. For this to be possible,
key performance indicators (KPIs) should be determined during the strategic planning stage, and
success should be defined numerically.
A numeric goal allows the team to regularly track and monitor performance and assess if any
changes need to be made based on that progress.
For instance, your company’s strategic goal could be to increase its customer retention rate by 30
percent by 2022. By keeping a record of the change in customer retention rate on a weekly or
monthly basis, you can observe data trends over time.
If records show that your customer retention rate is decreasing month over month, it could signal
that your strategic plan requires pivoting because it’s not driving the change you desire. If,
however, your data shows steady month-over-month growth, you can use that trend to
reasonably predict whether you’ll reach your goal of a 30 percent increase by 2022.

5. Balance Innovation and Control

To leverage innovation and maintain control over your current strategy implementation, develop
a process to evaluate challenges, barriers, and opportunities that arise. Who makes decisions that
may pivot your strategy’s focus? What pieces of the strategy are non-negotiable? Answering
questions like these upfront can allow for clarity during execution.
Also, remember that a stagnant organization has no room for growth. Encourage employees to
brainstorm, experiment, and take calculated risks with strategic goals in mind.

Step 1: Visualization
One of the most important and constant challenges when implementing a strategy is simply
understanding what exactly a strategy is. An effective way to improve this understanding is to
visualize the strategy through an illustration that shows both the important aspects of the strategy
and how each step relates to one another and ties into the overall goal; we call this visualization a
planning cascade. Ask yourself, do we have enough clarity about the vision, the strategic
priorities, and the results the company wants to accomplish? Is it clear enough why these are
important? Are your organizational structure, processes and systems well aligned with the new
strategy and goals?

Step 2: Measurement
Key elements of the visualized strategy should be tracked via easily understood KPIs. The full
set of KPIs can be organized into a dashboard so that your organization can determine
progress. Ask yourself, do we have the necessary business information and metrics to execute
our strategy and measure progress? Are KPIs already identified for the organization? How
successful has the measurement been in the past? Do they need to change?

Step 3: Tracking
Keeping tabs on the progress of your strategy is key to ensuring you’re on the right track and
helps keep performance aligned with the vision. Strategy execution is much like sailing a boat
toward your planned destination. If you don’t know where you’re headed before you depart,
you’re less likely to know when you’re off course. However, keeping your finger on the pulse of
the implementation by tracking your KPIs will allow you to make the necessary corrections as
conditions change.

Step 4: Reporting
Tracking also allows you to have reports ready for your executives or board members. Be sure to
capture all on-going projects during the implementation of your strategy to ensure all players are
on the same page and the duplication, or misallocation of tasks and resources are nipped in the
bud before they cause problems.  Using an automated reporting tool empowers you to
consistently tell your story while saving you time.
Step 5: Performance Management
Your team is the backbone that drives your organization to strategic success, and as such, it is
necessary to nurture and develop this team and to keep them engaged with the big picture goals
of your organization. Take full advantage of every opportunity to provide your team with
coaching and feedback so they know exactly  how their work contributes to the organization’s
overall achievements. When an employee recognizes the role they play within the organization
and the impact of their contributions, they are more dedicated to achieving success.

The five most common challenges in executing a

strategic plan are:
1. Poor goal setting.

Strategic goals are often large and complex objectives that almost always require many resources
scattered across many departments and locations to accomplish them. Establishing clear goals
across teams will result in more clarity on priorities and responsibilities.

Recommendation: Ensure that your entire organization has adopted a goal-setting methodology.
The objectives and key results (aka “OKRs") method is emerging as the new standard, but using
SMART (goals— specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and timely) is better than nothing.
Ensure that there are established best practices for writing goals. Each manager should be
responsible for his or her team’s goals. If no best practices are being followed, use OKRs. 

2. Lack of alignment.

Even with proper goal-setting, teams and people can be challenged with a lack of alignment that
typically causes prioritization issues and collaboration conflict that can derail the day-to-day
work to achieve the strategic goal. The biggest cause of strategic misalignment is the
nonstrategic work that people are so used to doing. Often nonstrategic objectives become the
priority, as they are routine and often the most easily attained.

Recommendation: By establishing clear alignment on who is working on which strategic

objective, as well as what each of those objectives are will empower those people to drive the
priority over nonstrategic objectives. This is especially true if you can see the alignment straight
through the hierarchical structure. 

3. Inability to track progress.

Many organizations are still using spreadsheets to track objectives. This can work between a
manager and employee, however, these systems do not make it easy to aggregate results or create
transparency. Worse, their use limits the ability to real-time manage the attainment of strategic
goals. 
Recommendation: Consider using strategy execution platforms such as Tanics, AchieveIt or
Rhythm Systems to change the way this game is played. Managers and employees, especially
millennials, expect clear direction in real time on why and what is important. By improving
alignment, transparency, collaboration and manageability an organization can immediately
realize higher efficiency as well as more results. Knowing the score lets an organization and
every person connected with that strategic goal adjust their game to maximize the outcome.  

4. People not connected to the strategy.

People in general like order and routine, so we are more likely to fall into an operational tactical
focus where our efforts can result in immediate results. Unfortunately, strategic goals are rarely
this easy and small in scope, so how do we get people working differently? The best way is to
connect people more closely to strategy by aligning professional goals with personal interests.
For example, learning new skills, having more responsibility, working with different people and
teams, working outside their department on what we refer to as “strategy teams.”

Recommendation: Let people create their own strategic goals initially to capture their ambition
and preference. Managers then work at trying to align that employees’ goal with the larger
strategic plan. Shift the focus from “an employee working inside a department” to “an employee
working towards a company’s strategic goal as part of a strategic team.”

5. No measurements or leading indicators.

The old proverb, “You manage what you measure,” is paramount to strategy execution. Without
measurement, how do you manage the people and issues that can derail a strategic goal? You
must set measurable goals, track them and manage them Having leading indicators like
predictive analytics stimulates the management discussions at all levels.  

Recommendation 1: Start with only the most critical strategic goals, as this will reinforce the
notion that strategy execution is the most critical focus. It will also make it easier to adopt the
goals as it focuses on depth, not breadth. “Focus on less to accomplish more” is the right motto.

Recommendation 2: Adopt technology that can provide predictive analytics on goal attainment.
For example, Tanics provides predictive analytics on individual goals using a proprietary
algorithm based on the time span and timing of attainment updates. This provides a checkpoint
for executives, managers and employees to review the current focus and allocation. Predictive
analytics is not an exact science; however it provides a reflection point on how a goal is tracking.
The more a goal has visibility the more a goal will be managed.

Changing how your organization executes strategy may seem like a complicated and challenging
change management project, but it can be done relatively quickly and incrementally with
immediate results. Start at the top. Executives have the most to gain and can certainly lead by
example. Implement these best practices to start the transformation. 

 Make the strategic goals clear. Use a methodology like OKRs to give the goals more
structure.  
  Set executive goals and demonstrate the leadership team’s focus on strategy.  
 Make all strategic goals transparent to everyone. Show how each executive’s goals weave
together. 
 Use technology, as transparency and real-time tracking cannot be accomplished
otherwise.
 Show that you are measuring what matters, managing what matters and—more
importantly—that you're going to attain what matters.

The 5 key factors for successful strategy implementation

Commitment to the strategy

As a leader, the sustainability of your organization needs to be your top priority.

The implementation of a long-term strategy isn’t a “box-checking” exercise. It constantly battles

the daily urgent matters. If you’re approaching it as a "check it off and move on" item, you will
fail before you’ve even started.

Strategic planning is a challenge.

It requires a lot of self-reflection.

When you question your organization's performance, you confront an unpleasant reality. This
kind of brutal honesty can help your organization realign its focus. If you dig deeper into your
organization and unearth those ugly truths, you will craft a strategy that aims to conquer your
greatest weaknesses.

Self-awareness is an incredible trait for an organization to have. Knowing your strengths and
weaknesses, puts you in an advantageous position for the future.

To effectively implement a strategy, you have to commit fully to the objectives. If you don’t
approach your strategy with complete conviction, don’t expect anyone else to believe in it either.
You need to be decisive.

But give the process the time it deserves.

A fully-formed long-term strategy won’t be implemented in a matter of a few days. Commitment

to the strategy could take several weeks to beat business-as-usual.

When you first get started, the initial conversations with senior leaders are going to be messy.
That’s simply part of the process. Each person will bring their own point-of-view on how to
implement the strategy most effectively with the available resources.

Again, that’s part of the process.

Example

The senior leaders in an organization gather for several days to map out and develop a long-term
strategy. The implementation of the strategy is only discussed as an afterthought. As a result,
business-as-usual leaves commitment to the new strategy to the wayside.

Actionable Steps

Take your time to map out a strategy. This can’t be done in a single day. It needs time to brew in
the minds of everybody involved. Once a strategy has been decided upon, initiate an
implementation discussion.

All senior leaders must be fully committed to the results of that discussion. They can’t be half-in
and half-out when it comes to a long-term version.

Download the strategic implementation cheatsheet.

The cheat sheet is a one-page guide to everything you need to keep in mind as you go about
implementing your strategic plan!
Aligning strategy with organizational structure

The structure of your organization affects the implementation of its strategy.

Is your organization ready to effectively execute the strategy you have outlined? What changes
will need to be made for this to happen? How much short-term disruption will this cause to the
existing operation?

In some cases, an organization’s structure isn’t aligned with the strategy. For instance, you might
have chosen strategic objectives that no department can entirely own, so you have to restructure
your teams.

An effective strategy is about bridging the gap between your objectives and where you are now.
If you have ambitious objectives to achieve over the next 18 months, but they can’t be delivered
practically, they simply won’t happen.
Implementing a strategy with big moves requires significant change. You may realize that your
organization has been heading down the wrong path.

Certain departments may need to be scaled down, whilst others to be expanded. Realigning your
focus and mapping out your objectives might result in a course correction.

It is quite normal for organizations to change their structure to implement a new strategy.

For particularly large organizations, a strategy cannot be implemented overnight.

It can take several months for all of the pieces to fall into place, with people joining, leaving, and
moving around.

The key is to focus on moving past the planning phase and start implementing the strategy.
Outline your objectives and ambitions and align your people with them, so your organization is
able to adapt.

Example

Let’s take the example of a media organization.

The senior leaders in this organization consider a long-term strategy to specific revenue goals.
Upon review, they soon realize that their entire video production department will effectively
need to be disbanded and the expertise redistributed.

The problem is, their video production department is also deeply involved in the activities of
other departments in the organization.

It soon becomes evident that the organization’s structure will need to change for the new strategy
to be implemented successfully. Rather than doing this overnight, they decide to slowly scale
down the video production department and reduce their cross-organizational activities.

Actionable Steps

Take some time to consider how your organization’s current structure may be an obstacle further
down the line. If a specific department needs to be scaled down, what impact will this have on
the other departments and how will it affect the company's output as a whole?

Aligning strategy with organization’s culture

People execute strategies.

Who are the people in your organization that everyone looks up to? What role models is the
organization’s culture promoting? What are your culture’s values?
It is essential to have those individuals on board with your vision for the organization, along with
the strategy of how you are going to get there.

When your culture’s star employees get on board with the new strategy, it will be easier to bring
the rest of the people on board, too. These people will offer valuable insights into what is
happening in various parts of the organization, which will help you implement the strategy
across all of your operations.

You need to have people at all workforce levels understand the bigger picture. Employees that
are driven by purpose engage with their work more. This is why it is important to communicate
their role in the organization’s success. How they contribute to the bigger picture.

Communicate the context as well as the content of your strategic plan.

Team leaders should regularly reinforce the purpose behind every employee’s day-to-day
actions. They need to know what the company is building towards and why their own personal
contribution matters.

Example

In developing an organization’s strategy, certain key people weren’t included. The management
team doesn't seem like it takes feedback from its people seriously. The required organizational
changes don't make sense to the employees and nobody supports the new strategy. There are
negative discussions during lunchtime and the strategy implementation falls flat.

Actionable Steps

Take some time to get leading voices in the workplace involved in the strategy process, even if
they are not traditionally part of a leadership team. This will not only facilitate buy-in and
engagement from the wider team, but you will gain valuable insight into what could be missing.
People want to get involved with strategy.
Creating an environment where strategy succeeds

This requires more than aligning the organizational structure with your strategy.

Just because your team is arranged in a way that puts the resources in the right place, it doesn't
automatically mean that the environment is conducive to actually making your strategy happen.
This only addresses the shape of the organization.

There will be key elements of your culture, operating model, etc., that define you as an
organization, which you’d want to keep. But don’t keep the things that no longer serve you.
Change takes focus, effort, compromise, and probably getting a few things wrong before you get
them right. So, you need to create an environment that fosters the things you want to keep and
provides support for change. It's a tough balancing act.

The key elements to achieve balance around culture and your implementation approach are:

 Communication
Internal communication is of high importance and often of low quality. Here is a rule: You can’t
overcommunicate. Keep your staff in the loop, and be willing to refine and adjust how you
implement your strategic plan.

If you create an environment where discussion is invited and the approach is clear but
adaptable, your implementation has a better chance of becoming a reality. It doesn't mean you
have to act on every opinion, but making communications a two-way street will pay off.

 Clarity
There is no substitute for everyone being on the same page about what is happening and why. It
gives you no excuses as to whether you've really decided and committed to the plan and gives
your team the best chance to change.

 Accountability
The culture of accountability: if no one feels like they are responsible for owning and delivering
the plan, it simply won't happen.

 Acceptance of change
It's in that balance between valuing change and not constantly changing everything. It's also
about creating an environment where learning from change is part of the culture.

 Focus
When you want to make a strategic change, you need to incorporate two things in your
implementation approach. First, accept that some things will have to take a hit in the short term
(to create the room for change), and second, some will take a hit in the long term (because you
value some activities over others, i.e., you’re focused). People will have to drop some things to
take on new responsibilities.

Example

A small manufacturing company has decided to double-down on making its core product line
better and more versatile while discontinuing its other 2 smaller lines.

However, they haven't been clear to their staff why they are doing it (other than "we think
business will be better"). What's more, they haven't factored in the impact on operational
efficiency that will occur as they migrate staff away from the lines being phased out over to the
core line.

People don't know exactly what is expected from the changes and are worried that the
projections indicate they have to be working at their previous efficiency even though they will be
splitting their time across two areas, one of which they don't know well.
Actionable Steps:

 Go beyond presenting the strategy to your team. Take the time to explain why the current
strategy isn't quite working and what you expect the future to be. Expose the new strategy to
your people. Let them engage with it and have access on demand. Use a dynamic digital
platform, like Cascade, to organize and expose your strategic plan.

 Get on top of the operational impacts. People will be spending time training, working on stuff
they don’t necessarily know well, and dividing time across more activities. The truth is that there
will be some kind of hit to productivity in the short term. That's part of your investment in the
long term. So, make it a part of the plan, and the plan will become all the more realistic for it.

Download the strategic implementation cheatsheet.

The cheat sheet is a one-page guide to everything you need to keep in mind as
you go about implementing your strategic plan!
Setting realistic targets for delivery across a set time period

Your targets have to align with your organization’s capabilities.

While strategic objectives can stretch and challenge an organization, they still need to be
grounded in reality. Unrealistic objectives will only demoralize the employees and stakeholders
of your organization.

The objectives and goals need to be manageable. This doesn’t necessarily mean that a strategy to
achieve them has to be implemented overnight. Some objectives may require months of strategic
implementation to set an organization on the right path.

When you present a long-term strategic plan to employees and key stakeholders, it may appear to
be overwhelming. Prioritize the objectives. If a particular element of the strategy doesn’t need to
be immediately implemented, how much focus and attention does it actually require at the
beginning of the process?
When you determine your strategic objectives, it’s always good to make them bold to challenge
the organization. But you need to also make them achievable. Don’t choose too many, so you
can focus your effort on the things that matter.

Whilst it can be good to set the tone for the organization's future, too many changes all at once
can lead to significant unrest amongst your workforce.

Aim to assure your workforce that the steps that need to be taken to achieve these goals will be
appropriately phased into the organization's operational processes.

Example

A senior leader has sky-high ambitions for the future of an organization. They have outlined
financial targets that are bold and they promise unprecedented growth. The strategy to embark on
these will put the workforce under immense pressure, lowering their morale as they try to keep
up with the unachievable (and quite possibly they’ll stop trying to).

Actionable Steps

Invite your people in the strategy conversations and let their feedback and knowledge of the front
line root your plan to reality. Ideally, you want to strike a balance between pushing your
organization forward and keeping things realistic in the short term at every stage.

Issues in strategy implementation

Several obstacles affect an organization’s ability to adopt a strategy. However, when
appropriately addressed, almost all of these factors can be resolved. In many ways, implementing
a strategy is more important than developing it.

If you fail to set realistic targets, engage the right people, create a strong environment, align the
strategy with your organizational structure, and commit to it, then you will fail at execution.

To summarize, the biggest issues in strategy implementation are:

 Lack of commitment to the strategy

 The alignment of strategy with organizational structure
 The alignment of strategy with the organization’s culture
 The creation of an environment for your strategy to succeed in
 The setting of realistic targets for delivery across a set time period

Don't let these happen to you, read our 6-Step Guide to Strategic Implementation to improve
your odds of successfully implementing your strategy!