Seven (7) factors companies may need help to execute better

Q2 is almost over.?Here are seven key factors your company may be preventing you and your team from better executing this year projects and key objectives:

Lack of a Clear Vision and Strategy: With a clearly defined organizational purpose and direction, it becomes easier for teams, even within the same company, to align their efforts toward a common goal. Outline the major steps or milestones required to achieve the company's vision. Let the team visualize how the pieces must come together and ask questions. If you aren't practicing this strategy, the result often leads to confusion, disorganization, and failure to execute.

Ineffective Communication:?A leading culprit for projects or strategic plans to fail is communication breakdowns. Whether it's because we're having too many meetings (or too few), the root cause is the lack of "quality" communication. Hold meetings where open, honest dialogues occur, relieving overstretched managers, and leaders of the chance to unintentionally omit important information, and goals and expectations can get lost in translation. Miscommunication leads to misunderstandings and delays, while a lack of stakeholder ownership derails execution efforts.

Poor Leadership:?Companies need more effective and consistent outcomes. To ensure this is attainable:

1. Invest early in your high performers so they can achieve success when called upon to lead a project.
2. Help mentor and develop their skills so they can motivate their teams.
3. Help them to learn to set clear expectations for their team members.

But most of all, empower these same leaders with appropriate decision-making authority. Including them in tough decisions making situations increases the project or plan's likelihood of success.???

Resistance to Change:?Recognizing the difference between "change management" and "managing change" is important. High-performing companies educate their associates and leaders on the differences between these two concepts. The outcome is that change is recognized as a positive force in the company, helping it grow and gain strength, hone its skills, and learn through success and failure. In return, embracing the idea of change management and continuous improvement become desirable, self-fulfilling outcomes.??

Insufficient Resources and Planning:??Universally, we can agree successful execution requires adequate resources, including financial, human, and technological assets. However, we need to spend more time preplanning to include a practical assessment of hidden, indirect costs or take full advantage of the value of a detailed plan for execution or implementation. Remember, it's "ready, aim, fire," not aim, ready, fire.?

Hence, this may be why many projects described as 'standard operating procedures' yield varying and unpredicted results.?

Lack of Accountability:?Like it or not, successful execution requires a culture of accountability. While terms like "accountability" or "KPIs" may not fit your 'ecosystem'; individuals and teams want and need to take ownership of their responsibilities and delivery commitments. Clear and fair performance metrics shared with all key stakeholders throughout the entire process held everyone understand how their failures or delays impact other individuals or teams. In this environment, concepts like accountability, mutual respect, strong communication, and the honoring of commitments maintain and foster mutually beneficial results.

Inadequate Adaptation and Learning:?When was the last time you and your leadership team sat down and reviewed a completed project (or initiative) and examined the mistakes and changes you made during the same project or initiative? Too often, companies fail to learn from their mistakes or adapt their approaches. Accordingly, they struggle to execute and are prone to repeat their mistakes. That's why it's essential to regularly evaluate progress, learn from successes and failures, and adjust strategies and tactics accordingly. Without a commitment to continuous improvement and a willingness to adapt, companies can become stagnant, lose relevance, and fail to execute effectively in a dynamic business environment.

Do yourselves a favor, take the extra time to prioritize clarity in vision and strategy. Embrace a communication methodology throughout the entire execution process.?Invest in developing strong project management and leadership skills. Pre-allocate appropriate resources and manage the plan. Cultivate a culture of embracing change, accountability, and a learning mindset. Placing a high value on driving these factors improves the likelihood of successful execution and the delivery of desired outcomes.

"The secret to success is constancy of purpose." Benjamin Disraeli, British Prime Minister - 1868, 1874-1880