In one of my earlier articles I talked about strategy, and how that’s important to decide what not to do. But the other element of our strategy is to make sure that there is proper execution, because that makes a difference between having a successful strategy and not. So let’s look at the Six Steps for a Successful Business Strategy.
There are a number of elements that I’d like to talk to you about getting that strategy executed. Because execution of a strategy is not going to be done by you and you alone. As a business, you need everyone involved in the business to be equally up-to-date and aligned on making that execution happen.
One of the first steps is to look at in terms of strategy development and execution would be to bring the alignment together. That means understanding how the people in the team behave and how they communicate.
Once you have that then you need to go on to define what the vision for the business is. I’m using vision as an overall encompassing topic to include the culture as well as the values of the business.
It’s important that everyone knows what the mission, the culture and the values of the business is.
Next is making sure that you understand where you stand in the overall picture. That involves a bit of diagnostics on your own business. Try using things like SWOT to understand your strengths and your weaknesses. Also it’s important to understand what your CSFs (Critical Success Factors) are. Be really clear about what are those 3-5 things that would make a difference to the progress of your business?
Once you have that of course you need to decide on a plan. Planning is about setting the goals, the strategies and most importantly the KPIs that will help you measure whether you’re progressing or not.
When you have the plans in place, the next thing is the execution. That’s about making sure you know what’s a priority, what is important among the various things that you need to do, making sure you do your prioritisation. It’s also very important to make sure you know who in the organisation is going to be responsible for each step and how they will be held accountable for that.
Lastly, once you’ve completed all of the five steps, this sixth step is going to be critical. Pay attention to the plan and make sure you are optimising it. You will never get things right the first time. So it’s important to review what you’ve done, how it is progressing and continuously go back to the plan and adjust it.
So the six steps to creating a successful business strategy;
- To make us make sure there’s an alignment.
- Define your vision.
- Ensure you do a proper diagnosis.
- Make your plans.
- Execute them or have a clear idea about how to execute.
- And finally the review and optimize each time.
Many business owners do try to do it themselves, you need to involve your team in this. When you involve your team, you are in a situation where as a business owner the team differs too much to you. So you want to be a participant in the strategy rather than necessarily always just leading. That’s not easy to do and it would be very helpful to get someone else involved to manage this process for you. I would encourage you to get an external moderator or influencer to do that.
The Alternative Board, Milton Keynes.
