How to Actually Execute Your Business Strategy
No matter what industry you are in, a great strategy is the key to success. But when you work for a growing business, it’s quite likely you’ve experienced this phenomenon:
At the company‘s weekly brainstorming session, you propose a new strategy that is received with exceptional positivity. Your team excitedly discusses the idea, thinking synergistically and solving complex problems at every turn. After mulling over the new direction for an hour, it appears that the plan is foolproof, so everyone goes back to their respected offices both inspired and motivated to execute.
A month later, the whole plan has fallen apart. And it’s absolutely devastating.
When you work for an evolving business, then you know – coming up with a great strategy is one thing, executing it is a whole other ball of wax. If you’re like most CEOs, you probably rank “strategy execution” ahead of 80 other company concerns, including innovation, global security, and top line growth, according to this Harvard Business Review study. And if your company is like three quarters of the organizations in that same study, your team struggles or fails to execute your plans.
Why is that? Personally, I find that it’s usually because:
Robert Epner, Founder and CEO of ChiefofStaff.com, has worked with numerous Fortune 500 companies on strategy execution and suggests that you try the following the next time you have a big idea:
With so many moving parts, the simple question of accountability can get increasingly murky. Remember the truism: if many people are accountable, then no one really is. “But the road to accountability begins with engagement,” Epner explains. “Providing your people with unfettered access to the plan, clarity on individual initiatives, and the tools to effectively align, produce, and report, results in engagement that goes far beyond the plan itself.”
Each team has its own dynamic. Find a means of communicating digitally that is the most efficient for your team and constantly share information and discoveries.
