ten keys to strategy execution shepherdconsulting llc

Brian Shepherd [email protected] 415-516-8433 www.accountcaffeine.com San Francisco, CA

Shepherd Consulting LLC Strategy execution for strategic results

Implementing Strategy Successfully: Ten Keys for Strategy Execution

Leaders

Brian Shepherd Shepherd Consulting LLC

August 1 2010

mailto:[email protected]


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Implementing Strategy Successfully:

Ten Keys for Strategy Execution Leaders

Brian Shepherd Shepherd Consulting LLC

If you have read the research report on “What is the Primary reason for poor strategy execution” (http: //www.accountcaffeine.com/implement-strategy-successfully-), you see that 54% of respondents including senior management, identified uncertainty about the “how, who and what” as the most common reasons for poor strategy execution: unsure leadership, undefined strategy and unclear responsibilities The strategy needs to be “operationalized‟ to clearly state the “who, how and what”. Furthermore, there needs to be a feedback loop to assess whether communication of the Plan was received AND understood. As initiatives, goals and tasks are refined during the implementation period; re-clarification cycles should be incorporated in order to maintain alignment and certainty. Follow these Ten Keys for Strategy Execution Leaders to reduce your implementation risks. Reduce the uncertainty that allows daily problems to overwhelm your most important initiatives.

Ten Keys for Strategy Execution Leaders

1. Formalize a Strategy Execution Management Process

2. Operationalize Your Strategic Plan

3. Align Strategic Accountabilities

4. Make Strategy Personal

5. Schedule Recurring Strategy Execution Reviews

6. Support Strategy Execution with Incentives

7. Communicate to Clarify

8. Look for Coaching Opportunities

9. Get Visibility into Teams, Alliances, Divisions and Departments

10. Build Credibility with Your Board of Directors/Bank/Investor/CEO/Partners

The following pages describe starting points to activate these keys whether document or software based



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1. Formalize a Strategy Execution Management Process

Create or use a strategy execution management process so that everyone accountable knows

your expectations – not just for the strategy but for the execution of the strategy. Ideally, the

time to do this is at the beginning of the Planning stage and should be part of operationalizing

the plan. The operational plan should include the previous nine keys. The challenge is to

develop a process that doesn‟t overburden the strategy execution itself, is readily available

when needed and captures the history of accountable actions, conversations and activities.

Quote from “What is the Primary reason for poor strategy execution:”

o A sure symptom of failure to come is when concerns over execution in the real world are

swept away with "yes you can" slogans



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2. Operationalize Your Strategy

In 2006 Kaplan and Norton surveyed 143 members of their online community and found that

nearly half of them had no formal strategy execution process in place.

This is a failure point that occurs after the Assessing/Defining/Futuring stages of developing a

strategy. If the next stage, Planning, includes thorough operationalization, the plan creates a

firm base for the subsequent stages: Executing, Monitoring, Evaluating and Rewarding.

“Operationalizing” the strategic plan will reveal errors, management gaps, missing capabilities,

contingency needs and risk mitigation.

The operationalized plan has to be concrete enough that the “who, what, when and why” are

clear. Often strategy is developed at the most senior level and then handed over to staff to

figure out how to implement it. The better practice is to consult with the important strategy

“implementers” when building out this part of the strategic plan. Their contribution will reveal the

level of detail they need in order to proceed. They also get the opportunity to contribute and

“own” the plan as their own. Unworkable assumptions about the organization‟s ability to execute

can be identified and cured before the implementation begins.



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3. Align Strategic Accountabilities

Align strategy with initiatives, goals and tasks to move in a new direction. Leadership clarity will

at least make the linkage to the destination „visible‟. To preserve leadership credibility, it is worth

communicating that as the strategy is executed through the year, evolving economic, market,

technological and other environmental changes may require adjustments. But these course

adjustments should be positioned as specific responses to new realities or else they will be

seen as confused leadership.



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4. Make Strategy Personal

The most damning comments about “buy-in” or internalization of strategy by those responsible

for implementing it refer to the “Pizza and PowerPoint” strategy launch. The most effective

means of gaining buy-in is by ensuring that Vice-presidents, managers and SME‟s can

internalize the strategy execution actions in two-way, one-on-one conversations between the

strategy execution leader and the VP‟s, between the VP‟s and the Managers, between the

managers or team leaders And their SME‟s. This is how goals and initiatives become

personalized – internalized.

This is not a once a year launch requirement but a periodic process throughout the plan

implementation period.


o Face it; the toughest thing is to consistently attack/handle something on a repeated basis.

There are too many outside forces pulling in too many directions.



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5. Schedule Recurring Strategy Execution Reviews

Make the initiatives, goals and tasks specific enough that they can be used as a performance

agreement against which progress can be measured. Whether scheduled one-on-one meetings

or team meetings, agreements on next steps and progress against the original implementation

goals and tasks needs to be recorded so that clarity is maintained and accountable employees

can quickly get back on track.

Further, the majority of poll takers chose “Priority is lost in Daily Problems” as the primary

reason for poor strategy execution. Pre-scheduled meetings with brief or comprehensive

documentation as appropriate, helps keep accountable people on track and quickly gets them p

to speed for the next strategy execution review.



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o As a human being, it is quite normal that you come back to your fire fighting when a problem

happens

o People try to move ahead but are unsure exactly what they should do, who all should be

involved

6. Support Strategy Execution with Incentives

As a minimum, review legacy incentives to ensure they don‟t conflict with the new strategic

implementation or confuse the message. Most obviously, remove employee incentives that

counter the new Initiatives

“Accolades” for good decisions and results are always good motivators. “Concerns” are good

course-corrections and motivational if done at the time the concern arises.

Publicize awards and recognition for superior strategic accomplishments by individuals and

teams. Even a symbolic recognition will confirm the importance of strategy implementation to

everyone in the company.

.

Quotes from “What is the Primary reason for poor strategy execution:”

o … then there is the absence of linking the new strategy to the budget and the correct

metrics.”

7. Communicate to Clarify

Employees want to clearly understand the strategic initiatives and their responsibilities for the

tasks that support the goals that, in turn, deliver on those initiatives.

Communication between leaders, managers and SME‟s must persist throughout the year in

order to reduce uncertainty and re-enforce the strategy execution so that daily problems will not

overwhelm the strategy. As execution advances and changing external environment evolves,

the many moving parts may also evolve differently than originally planned.

Communicating a clear baseline at the outset facilitates re-clarification in the event of re-

calibration. Even without evolving strategy, this re-clarification must be regular if only to confirm

“no change, on-target”. Speculation creates doubt.

Quotes from “What is the Primary reason for poor strategy execution:”

o The Leader must have the passion and ability to have a clear vision and understanding of

the goal, as well as the leadership skills to clearly "sell" this to the organization.”



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o … implementation of a strategic plan is a "journey", where flexibility and compromise are

mandatory skills in order to deal with unplanned & unexpected obstacles that inevitably arise

along the way.

8. Look for Coaching Opportunities

Visibility will provide insight to strength-building needs in your organization. Particularly if you

want to build an execution organization that is reliable for strategy execution or tactical

execution etc., internal or external coaching resources can be identified for individuals, groups,

managers or SME‟s – for needs that would otherwise have remained hidden.

If your Strategy Execution Management is perceived as a “gotcha” process, it will fail. Strategy

execution has to be planned at an appropriate detail for the people who are accountable for

implementing it to know when they are on track. The goal of the SEM process is not to create

micro-management but to identify if, when, where and why micromanagement may be critical.

An SEM facilitates encouragement employees to continue taking the right actions not just

Quote from “What is the Primary reason for poor strategy execution”

o Bad execution is to do with what the leader has not done to guide, train or mentor the

subordinates.

9. Get Visibility Into Teams, Alliances, Divisions and Departments

Most companies are set up to have visibility into the organization structure but not across

departments, yet strategy execution often involves cross department, cross functional teams as

well as project teams, external partners or alliances. Often coordination is attempted by

meetings, e-mail chains, message boards, on-line workspaces and so on. You can‟t manage

what you can‟t see. Whatever method you use, the easier it is to implement and access, the

greater the confidence everyone will have that they are on track and the quicker to resolve

issues. As the Strategy execution leader, CEO or President, you probably have the best view to

inter-departmental, SME and external partner combinations that clear roadblocks to success.

10. Build Credibility with Your Board of Directors/Bank/Investor/CEO/Partners

As the business leader you are responsible for the organization. If it doesn‟t perform well, you

are directly responsible. So you need to know at all times how well your strategy plans are

unfolding. Although it may be acceptable to be late on initiatives – it is unacceptable to tell the

board you don‟t know why or when or how you will get back on track. Furthermore, you need to



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be ready on short notice to give a board member an update – without guessing. Your currency

is “credibility”. Having a means to get accurate, timely status and projections is essential –

especially if the strategy execution is not unfolding as promised.


o Leadership, Leadership, Leadership takes full responsibility. Leadership is always the one to

take credit if things work out and to be accountable if things don't go well.

o … you need to discover the “Current Reality” of the organization. Without it your strategy /

initiative will have a high probability for failure

Final Remarks

All of the Ten Keys are important but I believe the first two are foundational

Operationalize Your Strategic Plan

Apply a Strategy Execution Management Process

These two are a sound framework on which to optimize the other eight keys

To see more about methods and tools to strengthen your strategy implementation, visit: http://www.accountcaffeine.com/strategy-execution-management/ Or make an appointment for a 15-minute case study overview or the 45 minute on-line demo at: http://www.accountcaffeine.com/implement-strategy-successfully

more…


http://www.accountcaffeine.com/strategy-execution-management/

http://www.accountcaffeine.com/implement-strategy-successfully


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Brian Shepherd is a consultant, guide, mentor, coach and facilitator applying his consulting and C-level experience in three broad practices:

business strategy execution

B2B strategic account acquisition, retention and win-back

goal and process alignment from strategy to internal and external ‘customers’

AIN Brian offers a wide range of experience and tools to implement strategy, research, analyze, propose, improve process, manage projects and adopt solutions such as:

CEO process, system and roadmaps for executing strategy and developing managers to become expert implementers

Design and install product development standards, process and gates

Lead DFSS and DMADV Six Sigma quality

Sales and marketing due diligence assessing revenue risk and loyalty by account, product and market segment

Structure and facilitate customer collaboration for mutually beneficial solutions using Customer Advisory panels, interviews and surveys.

Brian is based in San Francisco and offers consulting solutions in the USA and Canada



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Consultancy Engagements that will Deliver Measureable Results: Executing Strategy, Managing Strategic Accounts and Building High Quality Processes

Executive CV Shepherd Consulting LLC 2009 – 2010 Principal Consultant CUNA Mutual Group MI 2002 – 2009 Senior Vice-President and General Manager, Officer, Board Director, Executive Management representative on the Audit and Finance Committees.

GE Capital 1990 – 2002 Financial Services Vice president- Market Expansion PHH Canada 1986 - 1990 Corporate Relocation Vice President & General Manager IMCUSA - Nor Cal (2010) Committee Chair http://www.linkedin.com/in/briansshepherd http://www.accountcaffeine.com/about-account-caffeine/

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