Don’t Let Dust Collect on Your Strategic Plan. How to Implement Purposefully.
Most leaders know it’s essential to spend time, energy and resources towards crafting a viable strategic plan. They convene a strategic planning committee, gather data and viewpoints from different groups, envision the future, and define goals that draw a road map to where they want to go.
Having the plan completed feels great. It creates a sense of alignment and focus; a path forward towards goal achievement. But the unfortunate truth is that often times this is where the ball is dropped. Leaders don’t have a plan to actually IMPLEMENT THE STRATEGIC PLAN.
Create the “HOW” of your strategic plan by following these steps:
1. Prioritize –
You can’t do everything all at once. Leaders need to decide what to prioritize first in a 2–5-year plan. The days of the 20-year plan are unproductive and long gone. Figure out what needs to be accomplished in the first year, then move to the next. What is urgent? What contains complexity that might take more time? What will take a higher level of effort/capacity? What initiatives are contingent to others?
Priorities must be agreed upon and have logic behind them. Record the thought process of the priorities set so that someone stepping into the organization has a clear understanding of the “why.”
2. Engage –
Strategic planning implementation cascades well beyond the group who created the plan. Ensure every person needed to make the plan come to life understands their role and its importance. Everyone needs to be on board with a full understanding of where the organization is going and have ownership in their part of getting there.
Appoint a strategic planning implementation project manager that reports to senior leadership to make sure the report doesn’t just sit on a shelf collecting dust.
3. Govern –
Set up and monitor a governing process in relation to the strategic plan. Build in a cadence that is more than once a year (we suggest quarterly or twice a year). Is progress being made? Why or why not? Has anything stalled? Are there any capacity issues? Are there any outside influences out of your control that is hindering achievement? It’s necessary to uncover gaps and address them to get back on track.
The leaders accountable should come to these meetings data informed. Build metrics into the plan that are quantitative as well as qualitative.
4. Communicate –
Your strategic plan is a core part of your brand identity and should be communicated to all stakeholders. It’s a way to share what matters to the organization and what is trying to be achieved currently and in the future. Communication to external groups (i.e. customers) can be more high level than the internal communication, and frequency can be dialed down, but transparency is still key.
Your strategic plan is a roadmap. But in order for it to hold any value, you must turn the car on and drive. Implement with intent and continue to revisit the results. If you need assistance creating and/or implementing your strategic plan, REACH OUT TO ENSPARK TODAY. We can guide and provide capacity on your strategic planning journey.