How do you join up strategy with what's on the ground?

This was a question i heard someone ask on stage at a conference the other week.

There was no answer after the question by the way.

Why is it an important question?

It may help to start here, in case you're not convinced it's important. Joining strategy with the front line, the people who directly interact with customers or carry out core operations, is essential for ?business success.

How can people execute in the best possible way if they aren’t pointing in the right direction?

Here are some ideas on where to focus to ensure alignment between strategy and frontline actions:

1. Communicate the Strategy Clearly

The strategic vision should be simplified and communicated in terms that frontline employees understand. Ideally, they would participate in its inception and feel that it is a shared vision they can commit to, not just have to comply with. If you can avoid jargon and connect the strategy to their day-to-day work, in their language, that is really going to help. You want to be showing how their roles contribute to the bigger picture.

How well do people connect their role into the company vision

What do you do to help them make this connection?

2. Involve Frontline Employees in Strategy Development

Involving the front line in the strategy creation process builds ownership and ensures that the strategy is grounded in reality. People protect what they build after all. Their insights on customer needs, operational challenges, and improvement ideas can be invaluable. It may take more effort and a longer duration but quality is everything in strategy development.

How have you designed strategy, is it with our without input from people?

What are you missing from the picture that could support more insight into strategy development?

3. Empower Frontline Decision-Making

Give frontline employees the autonomy to make decisions that align with the strategy. If they understand the broader goals and you've done a good job on points 1 and 2 above, you should be able to trust that they can act in real-time to solve problems or seize opportunities that contribute to strategic success.

How empowered are people within your teams to seize opportunities?

How do you help them know if they are aligned to strategic goals?

4. Align Goals and KPIs

Obvious really but you would be amazed at the lack of connection here. You want to be setting performance metrics (KPIs) at the frontline level that directly tie into strategic objectives. This ensures that daily activities are focused on outcomes that drive the strategy forward. Just because you can measure something doesn’t mean you should or that it is important.

How does what is measured at front line impact at a strategic level?

How well do people connect these things together?

5. Provide Continuous Feedback and Support

Regularly check in with people to assess how well the strategy is being implemented and to gather feedback. This could be in a number of ways. Daily meetings are a good example of this. What do you see, hear and feel? This allows you to adjust tactics as needed and support people in overcoming obstacles.

When was the last time you observed and changed tactics?

What is the quality of your feedback mechanisms?

6. Train and Develop people

Equip frontline staff with the skills and knowledge to execute the strategy. This might involve training programs or on-the-job development that enhances their ability to meet strategic goals. It's no use asking people to do something if they haven’t been set up with the right skills and knowledge to make it happen.

How have you assessed the skills and knowledge required to execute on strategy?

What's the quality of the plans you have in place to bring up skills and knowledge in line with strategic goals?

7. Reward and Recognise Alignment

Acknowledge and reward people who actively contribute to the strategic goals. Recognition can reinforce the desired habits and behaviours as well as influencing others to follow suit. To be able to do this though you are going to need to have clarity on what this looks and sounds like so you can spot it when it happens.

What was the last recognition and how did it link to strategic aims?

How well do people understand what is being re-enforced and its links to strategy?

I would be amazed if the answers to all of those questions didn’t flush out some areas for improvement. By building a strong connection between strategy and the front line, you ensure that everyone in the organisation is working towards the same goals, and that the strategy is informed by the practical realities of daily operations.

If this connection is weak, you put your strategic aims at risk. The analogy around all rowing in the same direction typically does the trick, getting everyone to do so is not easy but learning to understand how you can improve in this area is a great place to start.

Enjoy Halloween

Jason

There's more thinking available around this idea of linking up strategy. This article by David Lancefield provides some additional perspectives on how to achieve this.

Here's the link...

Harvard Business Review - 6 ways to bring strategy into your work, everyday

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