How do you track strategic progress?

1 Define clear and SMART goals

The first step to track strategic progress is to define clear and SMART goals for your plan. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. These criteria help you to set realistic and meaningful objectives that can be tracked and evaluated. For example, instead of saying "We want to increase our sales", you can say "We want to increase our sales by 10% in the next quarter by launching a new product and expanding our market reach". This way, you can easily measure your progress and adjust your actions accordingly.

2 Establish key performance indicators

The next step is to establish key performance indicators (KPIs) that will help you to track and communicate your progress towards your goals. KPIs are quantifiable metrics that reflect the critical success factors of your plan. They can be financial, operational, customer-oriented, or employee-related. For example, some common KPIs for a sales goal are revenue, profit margin, customer satisfaction, and retention rate. You should select KPIs that are relevant, aligned, and easy to understand for your team and stakeholders.

3 Use a dashboard or a scorecard

A dashboard or a scorecard is a visual tool that displays your KPIs and their performance in a simple and accessible way. It can help you to monitor your progress, identify trends, spot issues, and make informed decisions. You can use a software tool or a spreadsheet to create your own dashboard or scorecard, or you can use a template or a framework such as the Balanced Scorecard or the OKR (Objectives and Key Results) method. A dashboard or a scorecard should be updated regularly and shared with your team and stakeholders.

4 Review and report your progress

Another important practice for tracking strategic progress is to review and report your progress periodically and consistently. You should set a schedule and a format for reviewing and reporting your progress, such as weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annually. You should also define who is responsible for collecting, analyzing, and presenting the data, and who is the audience for the report. A review and report session should include the following elements: a summary of the achievements, challenges, and lessons learned; a comparison of the actual and expected results; an evaluation of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats; and an action plan for the next period.

5 Adapt and improve your plan

Finally, tracking strategic progress is not only about measuring and monitoring, but also about adapting and improving your plan. Based on the feedback and insights from your review and report sessions, you should be ready to make adjustments and changes to your plan as needed. You should also celebrate your successes and recognize your team's efforts and contributions. Tracking strategic progress is an ongoing and dynamic process that requires flexibility, creativity, and collaboration.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?