Lights, camera, action.... strategy, planning and execution

It’s that time of year when organisations start their versions of planning cycles. Reviewing their five year strategies and considering resourcing requirements for the year ahead. It's also a time of consideration over how much external factors have derailed plans and whether the connection between strategy and implementation has become destabilised or derailed.

Having been through many years of strategic business planning, I believe that how this process is approached is one of the most critical parts of setting up organisations for success in the following year. And not because of how excellent a PowerPoint presentation is that documents what the organisation’s ambition is, but because it is the entire premise for how teams will be engaged and inspired to translate that strategy into delivery. Consider it a bedrock or substructure for how well (or not) an organisation can get off in the starting blocks.

To share my perspectives, here’s a view of how that deep strategy into implementation connection can be set up through a great planning process.

Step one: reflection

Seems obvious, but the first critical step has to be reflective to consider what’s happened in the last 12 months. What went well? What was achieved? What wasn’t? Being honest about what the organisation has and hasn’t delivered is an important step in recognising operational capabilities. Reviewing the strategic plan from the year prior, how much of what the organisation set out to deliver did it achieve?

An interesting global study from the Economist Intelligence Unit reported that only 10% of organisations had not missed any of their strategic objectives in the previous three years, and that of the 90% that hadn’t fully delivered their plans, nearly half had admitted to failing to implement their strategy. Staggeringly 17% admitted to not implementing between 40-100% of their strategic objectives, citing insufficient agility (21%), external developments (19%) and weakness in the strategy (15%).

I’ve written before about what it takes to lead in a VUCA environment and this data supports the need for organisations to:

a) pre-empt challenges and have effective mitigations to risks

b) ensure they are responsive enough to cope dynamically to external factors

How do you do that, you might ask? That’s another article on purpose led leadership and alignment in my opinion. But I wont distract from the topic of this article now by venturing into leadership approaches.

Step two: big picture, broad context

Once you’ve got a handle on your SWOT, and have reviewed the past 12 months, it’s time to look forward - much further forward.

Revisit the vision and ambition you have for your business. In five, ten, fifteen years are you clear what role your organisation will play in the lives of its customers? Does the ambition you have for the business still stand? Does it still have the same strategic significance to your group strategy if it’s part of a larger organisation, or for a smaller business is IPO on the cards? This big picture thinking is important to help ensure that companies don’t drift from year to year in a flip flopping of strategy that confuses everyone interacting with them, wasting energy chasing conflicting priorities.

Part of this bigger picture view should consider the market, its evolving landscape and competitive context. It should also take into account macro factors such as emerging trends and global developments that might be valuable as part of reviewing a strategic direction.

Step three: bring it back to within reaching distance

This is where you’ll start looking at the next 12 to 24 months and building out your strategic priorities for the next five years. More detail in the nearer term, a bit less as you stretch further out. But still having a clear view of how the years take the organisation on a journey and connect in terms of the roadmaps for implementation.

Financially, a set of numbers are attached to the trajectory that’s being charted and this part of the process is connecting that performance expectation to how the strategic priorities of the organisation will be achieved. Key levers for delivery should be debated, alongside how each priority helps the business achieve its overarching ambition.

This stage should include a good amount of challenge. Asking ourselves questions to affirm our decision making:

How does this help us?

Are we really answering the problems we are trying to solve?

Is this in line with our values?

What opportunities does this create?

Is this realistic? Stretching?

Will we be able to navigate any unpredictability?

What core competencies are needed and which capability gaps exist that will need addressing?

Step four: connecting strategy with action

If a strategy is developed, approved by the board, and then stuffed in a drawer only to be reviewed in 12 months then I’d argue that it’s a pointless exercise preparing it in the first place.

One of the most critical steps for a leader is to bring the strategy to life in a way that allows every member of the organisation to connect with it, and know what is expected of them to support its achievement.

Success is when anyone in the organisation can describe what they do day to day and how it is helping the business to achieve its ambition.

The implementation or activation plan you create should be simple enough so that everyone is clear on what needs to be done in order to deliver on the strategic priorities for the next year ahead. But also, and I always think most critically, what is not going to be done. Managing expectations with ruthless focus helps ensure that everyone from the board right the way through the entire organisation is crystal clear on where energy, time, and resources will be spent - with the right operational resilience to pivot as needed.

I really love the OGSP format - that takes broad company objectives and takes them into goals, connected to strategies and ultimately individual plans attributed to individual business owners. It’s simple to use, can easily be cascaded and communicated, and most importantly is trackable against clearly defined milestones for each action. I also like the way it can be collapsed for a high level view, but also provides more detail if required for the engagement of different stakeholders - with consistency.

Step five: build commitment and inspire execution

I think sometimes people forget that what we do at work is supposed to be exciting and fun, and the year ahead is so full of promise and potential. Planning is exciting - think about planning holidays or birthday celebrations….. it’s all about endless possibilities and what new adventures lie ahead, together. A company’s planning process is no different. It’s a chance to look forward, learn from lessons of the past, and create new commitments as a community to be better, do better.

Engagement is a fundamental part of that planning process. It can’t be separated. Key stakeholders at all levels need to buy into what is being agreed in an inclusive and collaborative way. Why? Shareholders and the board need to believe in the value creation, but employees need to believe that if value can be created it will benefit them and the customers they serve too. The work will then deliver career defining moments for all.

I’ve often described a bus that everyone is sat in. It’s the same bus, and everyone wants to be there. They’re all sat facing the same direction. They know where the bus is going. They have their seatbelts on, they know the destination and the route they’re going to take. They have an engine on the bus that works and the driver is the right one for this journey. Everyone is singing along to the same song on the radio and the bus driver is singing the loudest.

That’s what a great planning to implementation approach looks and feels like. And it doesn’t happen by just communicating a plan once and expecting it to ‘stick’. Reinforcement and repetition are critical to cementing good alignment. Measuring motivation and engagement are as critical as measuring successful implementation of plans when it comes to translating strategy into action.

When I talk about the bus analogy, it's easy to explain that when the bus needs to take a different route because a tree falls and blocks the path, it's ok because everyone is safe with their seatbelts on, they aren't worried because they're happily singing along, and the bus has the right driver and a good engine to navigate the interruption to their trip. The destination is the same and the path has changed, the there's no panic and swerving.

So, what’s the summary?

• Strategic objectives clearly defined, aligned to the organisation’s ambition
• Activation plans that translate the objectives into implementation
• Strong alignment across the whole organisation from leadership objectives cascaded that are specific and tangible, with clearly defined owners, roles and responsibilities
• Exciting engagement plans reinforcing what success looks like for the company in 12 months’ time, and also beyond that so the path is clear
• Agree tracking, don’t just monitor financial performance - connect to employee and customer metrics too