Essential Steps to A Successful Strategy Implementation Process

Businesses will often rise and fall based on their strategy implementation process. One of the key differences between successful and failed businesses is how they respond to challenges faced in the business environment.

Successful businesses work on strategic planning and implementation that makes them more agile and capable of achieving their objectives and plans. Having a properly managed and integrated process reduces the risk of poor execution that wastes the value companies expect from innovative and beneficial strategic plans.

Common issues encountered during business strategy execution include:

· Failure to set clear goals and poor execution management

· Poor attention to execution by management

· Misalignment between business strategy and employee personal goals

· Inadequate cross-departmental coordination

· Failure to establish measurable goals, track and manage them

7 Step Approach to Successful Strategy Implementation Process

1. Identify potential strategic initiatives

The goal here is to establish and outline strategic initiatives that the business can be focused on pursuing to achieve its specific goals. Key areas of focus when developing strategies include product, service, cost, business process, and market improvement. Common goals that businesses will seek to achieve include revenue and profit growth, cost reduction, improved service, and customer satisfaction. Strategy execution consulting provides access to professional guidance in strategy transformation, cultural change, and a suitably equipped execution process.

2. Map implementation priorities

Not all strategies offer the same value to the business. Businesses need to determine the priority initiatives and those that are no longer of benefit to their operations or achievement of goals. The “Strategies Priorities Map” can aid in ranking and therefore pinpointing initiatives that should of key importance.

3. Establish an implementation infrastructure

Developing a strategy implementation infrastructure helps to establish better coordination across the organization so that strategic initiatives are executed at a more agile and faster pace. This implementation infrastructure may be made up of three core components:

· Steering Committee: This is a management team that provides funding, managerial oversight, and conflict resolution. They also provide sufficient funding and other resource support. They also develop project execution plan with go/no-go decisions.

· Implementation Program Management Team: This team is responsible for day-to-day coordination between different departments and units. They undertake program management, tracking of identified parameters, and communication.

· Implementation Task Forces: This is the part of the organization that is responsible for producing deliverables and managing deadlines. Task force team members represent the various functions related to achieving the strategic initiative.

4. Apply agile implementation management

Strategic execution requires an ongoing effort to keep up coordination both within and between the relevant units. This continued effort to monitor and track performance can aid in identifying problems quickly and making corrections that will aid in sustaining momentum. Proper agile implementation management should be incorporated using these guidelines:

· Apply the 80/20 rule where management spends 80% of their time deciding, implementing, and making corrections.

· Empower Implementation Task Forces to take more decisions for faster implementation

· Publicly recognize successful teams to encourage competition and momentum

· Make tracking and reporting easy for all task forces

· Utilize feedback from employees and customers to formulate implementation plans

5. Develop implementation action plans

This will involve ensuring the use of technology, tools, and templates that all teams are comfortably able to use in strategy implementation. Effective IT project management will make monitoring and management easier from the top level, while Implementation Task Forces can more easily develop and share their action plans. With a detailed strategic implementation plan, there is a clear roadmap as to how strategies can be executed and goals achieved.

6. Align organizational culture with strategy

The successful implementation and execution of the strategy will heavily depend on organizational culture. Aligning the business internal environment with strategic initiatives can be achieved by making alterations to such areas as training, communication, hiring criteria, organizational structure, and more.

7. Build momentum and continually adjust

Short-term actionable plans can result in quick wins. This achievement can help encourage teams and build the momentum that will aid the organization in later achieving its medium to long-term strategies. But to build momentum, these quick wins must be well publicized and be communicated in an ongoing manner.

How to successfully execute a strategy?

Your business and strategic plans are always critical to your business success. Whether it be digital transformation, or organizational optimization, the success of the project will depend on if you have the right team working on it. That’s why it’s important to identify the right talent before the project begins to increase your chances of it succeeding.

There are plenty of ways to fill the roles you need, whether it be through LinkedIn job posts or indeed to identify the talent you are looking for full time or part time. Other options include working with a small consulting firm like MicroAgility, where they provide you the right consultants just for the project. Another option is to explore an online consulting platform like iAgility, where you can work through an online platform to find consultants.

Feel free to explore your options to identify which is the best route for you. Good luck with the execution of your strategy, if there’s anything our team can do to help, let us know!