Strategic Planning is not easy. But all of the effort, time and resources you put in to its creation can go right in to the junk pile if you do not address the execution phase. This is the part that most organizations take for granted. And that is a mistake.
Over the summer, I have been reviewing some of the Clear Signals That Your Strategic Plan Is Going to Fail from a book I recently published with Mona Mitchell called “7 Elements of Strategy Execution”.
This week, we note that if your people are not excited about what they are doing, about the plan for the future, then the liklihood for success is diminished.
Your people need to get on side and stay onside. The more transformational, or new, the plan is, the more critical this component is.
Great leaders will take time to get everyone onboard with the plan – not just at the start of the plan, but throughout as well. Tell them where you are going, why you are going there and how they will be affected. And repeat the story as often as you can.
Who is your plan’s cheerleader? How are you keeping everyone not only focussed on the end-result but excited about it as well? Are you keeping everyone up-to-date on the progress? Are you reminding everyone what’s in it for them? Are you celebrating the periodic ‘wins’ within the big plan?
All of these are critical questions to be asked of your organization’s strategy execution plan.
Hoping you are having a lovely summer.
