Tuesday, June 4, 2013
One of the biggest problems in strategy is not formulation, but implementation. Companies develop a great strategy and then fail to communicate it or aren't sufficiently aggressive in pursuing it. Here is a checklist to assess the implementation of your strategy:
1. Have the intent, mission, vision and strategy been communicated throughout the company?
2. Have clear objectives and responsibilities been assigned all up and down the organization so everyone knows what their tasks are within the new strategy?
3. Have leaders and managers with key responsibilities conducted their mission analysis to properly determine their distinctive roles and missions within the company? For more information about mission analysis, see the following article or pages 91 to 101 of my book, Brilliant Manoeuvres: How to Use Military Wisdom to Win Business Battles.
4. Has a full implementation plan with milestones and metrics been created at all levels of the organization? Have key executives and managers' terms of reference and the performance review process been suitably modified to incorporate these?
5. Is there a communication plan in place to inform all employees, suppliers, distributors, clients, and investors, and have you assessed the initial impacts on them?
6. Are your organizational structure, processes, and systems well aligned with the new strategy and goals? What measures and plans do you have to assess and modify these as you implement the strategy?
7. Do all of your people, especially executives and managers, have the requisite skills to do the planning and operations to execute on this strategy? Do you have the intention to provide this?
8. Do you have a regular review process in place with weekly/bi-weekly (if needed), monthly, quarterly meetings?
9. Have you conducted a quarterly after action review to assess progress and, more important, to identify lessons learned as you make the planned changes?
10. What are you and your leadership team doing to adjust the strategic execution as you implement the strategy?
11. How are your customers reacting to the changes? Are they enthusiastic, blasé, engaged and willing to help, hindering?
12. How is your entire company and management team reacting? Are they fully engaged and onside, or are there areas where they don't want to cooperate or get on board?
13. Are there key executives or managers who need specific coaching to help them raise their performance in line with their goals and missions?
14. Have you estimated and assessed your competitors' reactions? Have you considered how you can shape the competitive landscape to your advantage?
15. What plans do you have in place to look at the next 6 months, 12 months, and 18 months and beyond?
Richard Martin is a consultant, speaker, and executive coach. He brings his military and business leadership and management experience to bear for executives and organizations seeking to exploit change, maximize opportunity, and minimize risk. © 2013 Richard Martin. Reproduction and quotes are permitted with proper attribution.