SUCCESS IN BUSINESS SERIES: Strategy Implementation

1.????Introduction

The terms strategy and strategic plan will be used quite frequently in this article so let’s recap what they mean. We already defined strategy in a previous article as the cumulative impact of the choices (with a long-term impact) that an organization makes over time. A planned strategy is one that plans for those choices in advance. A strategic plan being the upfront plan and schedule of those choices, usually pulled together into a written document that describes those choices and how they will interplay, and at a top level, how they will be implemented. When the word strategy is used in this article, it implies ‘planned strategy’. A planned strategy is to be distinguished from an emergent strategy, which distinction was covered in our first article. Having clarified terms, let’s now dive in.

Strategy Implementation refers to the execution of the plans and strategies aimed at accomplishing the long-term goals of an organization. It is the process that calls out clearly, schedules and actualizes the actions that make delivery of the strategic objectives a reality.?It involves delivering everything planned on time, on budget, at quality, and with minimum variability. It is through the strategy implementation process that an organization is able to achieve its objectives, gain competitive advantage, and achieve team cohesion as they execute activities that contribute to a unitary whole strategy.

Although a well formulated business strategy is a pre-requisite for success, by itself it is not adequate. Rather sustained execution of the well formulated strategy, coupled with a healthy dose of ongoing day-to-day strategic thinking will assure long-term organizational success.

2.Pre-Requisites for Strategy Implementation

For you to succeed in implementing your strategy you must take into consideration the following components and ensure you have aligned them appropriately:

?????I.???????Resources, including People – before you start the strategy implementation process, it’s important to make sure that you have a team of the right people, possessing the required skills and competencies to successfully implement the strategy and bring your goals to realization. You must also put the relevant organizational structure in place to enable implementation of the new strategy. There is an age-old debate between organizational theorists and economists/strategy practitioners as to whether strategy must drive structure or structure determines the strategy the organization follows. For planned strategy approaches, once the strategy has been decided, the structure must be set up so as to enable the implementation of the strategy of the organization. Either way, the strategy and structure must be in alignment for the intended strategy to be realized in the reality of the organization. In addition to people, sufficient time and funds should be allocated, including a provision for unforeseen variations.

????II.???????Systems & Processes– ensure you have management and technological systems that will enable the strategic imperatives of the organization to be put in place, including any new processes necessitated by the new strategy. Beyond the technology, ensure that you have structured and resourced the organization to create and enable new processes that come with the strategy.

???III.???????Culture - Whenever a company’s culture is compatible with its strategic plan, strategy-implementation becomes easier while a mismatch between the two, creates obstacles. Establish Strategy-Supportive policies and procedures – ensure that the organizational policies and operating procedures have conformity with your strategic plan because if deviations exist, strategy implementation will be constrained. Create an environment that connects employees’ behaviors to the organization’s strategy. To reinforce the importance of focusing on strategy, reward achievement of strategic actions and milestones and disincentivize non-achievement of the same because once they see that they are being rewarded for delivering as per their roles, they get motivated to keep going and perform even better.

??IV.???????Implementation Tracking – set up a structure to manage the strategy implementation process, including time frame and frequency of review meetings. This should preferably include a (strategy into action) scorecard, an important tool to help in progress and milestone tracking, and therefore ensure relentless execution of the strategic imperatives, so that they do not die off as institutional memory of the strategy creation process fades away. This will help manage the resources used in the implementation process to ensure time, money and human resources are aligned to the plan and outcomes are as expected.

3.How Do We Go About Implementing Strategy?

Having understood what strategy implementation is, why it is important and the components that influence it, now it’s time to look at what we should do to achieve success in the implementation process.

a.???Communicate effectively – in addition to involving all senior management and selected middle management, the strategic plan should be clearly communicated to employees and everyone who is needed to take part and help them understand what their contribution is.

b.???Link Annual Budget to Strategic Plan - Effective strategy implementation requires reallocating resources to ensure that relevant business units, divisions and departments have sufficient budgets to do their work successfully. Managers also need sufficient funds to carry out all the activities related to the strategic plan. Senior managers responsible for preparing a budget in the company need to take care of the budgetary requirements of each unit for strategy implementation to be successful. This is important because too little funding slows progress and creates obstacles on the way to implementing a strategy, excess funding, on the other hand, leads to wastage of resources. When managers change a strategy, resource reallocation becomes a necessity. If a particular unit has to play a more critical strategic role due to the changes, it may need more personnel, equipment, and facilities. Thus, there will be a need to increase the unit’s operating budgets.

c.??????Avoid setting goals and actions that are too numerous and overwhelming because this often ignites confusion to the employees.

d.???Proper Strategic alignment – all activity, department and individual goals in the organization should be connected to or drawn from the strategic plan. This helps bring about prioritization and eliminate collaboration conflict that can derail the day-to-day work that is meant to achieve the strategic goal. To achieve strategic alignment, it is important to eliminate nonstrategic activities or objectives that may be getting prioritized voluntarily or inadvertently.

e.???Ensure you achieve congruency at the top management level and commitment from the middle level because this helps give direction to the lower level of leadership on what part they should play to help catapult strategy implementation into success.

f.?????Institute and Practice Strategic Leadership - Strategic leadership is the ability to anticipate, envision, maintain flexibility, and empower others to create strategic change as necessary. This type of leadership ensures strategic thinking takes root in the organization and ensures the strategic actions are continuously being aligned to changing market realities and keep the strategy relevant and determine when a comprehensive review of the strategy might be required. Without effective strategic leadership in an organization, it is unlikely the organization will formulate and implement competitive strategies.

We trust this gets you started on the journey of implementing your strategy towards business success. Here at Stratex, we have expertise and years of experience in strategy creation and implementation and therefore the means to help businesses and organizations do it the right way. If you would like to know beyond what’s in this article or any related subjects, we are there to serve you - please talk to us today on 0713601118, through email at [email protected], through [email protected] or drop us a note on our LinkedIn page and we will be happy to discuss how we can help put your business on the path to success. If you want to learn more about us, don't hesitate to visit our website.