How to take Strategy and Turn It into Results
How to take Strategy and Turn It into Results
Wikipedia defines strategy as a long term plan of action used to achieve a particular goal, most often “winning.” Strategic planning (Wikipedia defines) is an organization's process of defining its strategy, or direction, and making decisions on allocating its resources to pursue this strategy, including its capital and people.
Strategic planning should be involved in every aspect of your company’s growth if growth is to take place in a way that’s quick and painless. Planning is important, but having a clear and simple plan is even more important!
Some companies operate with multiple plans in place while some others may have no plan in place at all. But, how many of those plans are well thought out? When you run your business in a more abstract manner, expecting the “unsaid” to be understood, you don’t move in a linear, targeted direction toward your goal. As a result, you land into what I call the pitfalls of strategic planning.
Having a well-defined process for conducting your strategic planning is important. Do you have one? Clarifying and communicating the vision for the company is important. Also, setting the goals for next year and defining the strategies and tactics to support the achievement of those goals is important. When you’ve successfully accomplished this, your strategic plan is complete. But, then it’s time to execute them. Our research says organizations achieve only 60% of their strategies and that fully 50% of all projects fail to achieve their objectives.
So, what are the pitfalls that can occur in strategic planning? Here are 5 “traps” among 15‐20 we’ve identified that can occur and how to avoid each.
1) People don’t exactly understand the plan so they begin to make it up and add their own pieces of input.
How to avoid: Leave no stone unturned in the communication process. Test your team to make sure that your message is received well and understood from management to staff. Meet regularly to review the plan and discuss what’s holding us back from successful execution of it.
2) People start to fight over power of who’s in charge of what in an almost “survival of the fittest” fashion or mentality.
How to avoid: Spell out exactly who’s in charge of each initiative and for how long. Clearly indicate that they are the initiative champion and get others enrolled on their team to work on that project. Define the power structure in such a way that power within your strategy is never simply “up for grabs,” shared or has no single person who is accountable for the outcome. Give a timeline for which the task is to be finished by the person in charge.
3) People try to resolve conflict on their own and in unconstructive ways. This leaves the strategy hung up in ill‐emotion and unresolved conflict.
How to avoid: Create a conflict resolution board: when people are in conflict have them go before or submit an email to explain the nature of the problem. The board should be able to create a solution to the problem that is done within a window of three to four hours. If the original board members are occupied, have board alternates that are on call for conflict resolution. If you are the owner and the sole board member extra care is required to judge fairly and reasonably.
4) People become discouraged because they lose focus as they see the goal as something separate from their position or responsibilities. They lose momentum and enthusiasm dealing with the tyranny of everyday priorities. And, lose sight of what’s important in favor of what’s more urgent.
How to avoid: Create weekly pep rallies to reignite old enthusiasm midweek. Draw pictures of the overall goal. Let people see it and understand what you’re working for again and again. The goal has to become part of them and something they will benefit from. Reward people for reaching the goal. Hold people accountable for failing to follow though.
5) Communication breaks down between departments.
How to avoid: Communications workshops within your company can give insight into ourselves and the other people we work closely with. Practice better communications skills that foster understanding between people.
Strategic planning is something that should be celebrated as a way of bringing people together to share in a common vision or goal. You are simply creating a common language in which the whole team can understand. You are looking for your whole team to be on the same page.
How to take Strategy and Turn It into Results - To learn more about this author, visit Jonathan Goldhill's Website.
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Nothing great has ever been achieved without strategy. Yet if you were to ask many business owners to define strategy, they would fall short of being able to tell you what it means. The word probably exists as one of the most misunderstood words in business language.
Wikipedia defines strategy as a long term plan of action used to achieve a particular goal, most often “winning.” Strategic planning (Wikipedia defines) is an organization's process of defining its strategy, or direction, and making decisions on allocating its resources to pursue this strategy, including its capital and people.
Strategic planning should be involved in every aspect of your company’s growth if growth is to take place in a way that’s quick and painless. Planning is important, but having a clear and simple plan is even more important!
Some companies operate with multiple plans in place while some others may have no plan in place at all. But, how many of those plans are well thought out? When you run your business in a more abstract manner, expecting the “unsaid” to be understood, you don’t move in a linear, targeted direction toward your goal. As a result, you land into what I call the pitfalls of strategic planning.
Having a well-defined process for conducting your strategic planning is important. Do you have one? Clarifying and communicating the vision for the company is important. Also, setting the goals for next year and defining the strategies and tactics to support the achievement of those goals is important. When you’ve successfully accomplished this, your strategic plan is complete. But, then it’s time to execute them. Our research says organizations achieve only 60% of their strategies and that fully 50% of all projects fail to achieve their objectives.
So, what are the pitfalls that can occur in strategic planning? Here are 5 “traps” among 15‐20 we’ve identified that can occur and how to avoid each.
1) People don’t exactly understand the plan so they begin to make it up and add their own pieces of input.
How to avoid: Leave no stone unturned in the communication process. Test your team to make sure that your message is received well and understood from management to staff. Meet regularly to review the plan and discuss what’s holding us back from successful execution of it.
2) People start to fight over power of who’s in charge of what in an almost “survival of the fittest” fashion or mentality.
How to avoid: Spell out exactly who’s in charge of each initiative and for how long. Clearly indicate that they are the initiative champion and get others enrolled on their team to work on that project. Define the power structure in such a way that power within your strategy is never simply “up for grabs,” shared or has no single person who is accountable for the outcome. Give a timeline for which the task is to be finished by the person in charge.
3) People try to resolve conflict on their own and in unconstructive ways. This leaves the strategy hung up in ill‐emotion and unresolved conflict.
How to avoid: Create a conflict resolution board: when people are in conflict have them go before or submit an email to explain the nature of the problem. The board should be able to create a solution to the problem that is done within a window of three to four hours. If the original board members are occupied, have board alternates that are on call for conflict resolution. If you are the owner and the sole board member extra care is required to judge fairly and reasonably.
4) People become discouraged because they lose focus as they see the goal as something separate from their position or responsibilities. They lose momentum and enthusiasm dealing with the tyranny of everyday priorities. And, lose sight of what’s important in favor of what’s more urgent.
How to avoid: Create weekly pep rallies to reignite old enthusiasm midweek. Draw pictures of the overall goal. Let people see it and understand what you’re working for again and again. The goal has to become part of them and something they will benefit from. Reward people for reaching the goal. Hold people accountable for failing to follow though.
5) Communication breaks down between departments.
How to avoid: Communications workshops within your company can give insight into ourselves and the other people we work closely with. Practice better communications skills that foster understanding between people.
Strategic planning is something that should be celebrated as a way of bringing people together to share in a common vision or goal. You are simply creating a common language in which the whole team can understand. You are looking for your whole team to be on the same page.
How to take Strategy and Turn It into Results - To learn more about this author, visit Jonathan Goldhill's Website.
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Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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Kim CastleWith nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website |
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John BrennanJohn Brennan Ed.D. Dr. Brennan is President of Interpersonal Development, LLC, a training and development firm. Interpersonal Development has provided sales training and coaching to more than 3,000 sales reps from over 100 companies. A native of Australia, Dr. Brennan received his doctorate from the University of Rochester. His dissertation researched the effectiveness of Behavioral Modeling Technology in training people in interpersonal skills. While he has spent most of his career designing or delivering training, he was also a Vice-President of Sales of a training and development franchise with operations in 25 markets. Dr. Brennan has designed and delivered sales training in North America, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. He has been a guest speaker at numerous national and regional professional conferences. When Microsoft wanted Best Practices articles on sales for their web site, they called Dr. Brennan. The results are at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX011387391033.aspx His firm’s clients have included Volvo, The Prudential, Merrill Lynch, Eastman Kodak, Gannett, Equifax Europe, the Economist Group and countless small businesses. - Visit John Brennan's Website |
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