Why is strategic implementation important

Part of the strategic planning process is to know where you shine so you can use it to your advantage. The flip side of this is that you will also be able to identify your true weaknesses so you can make necessary improvements.

Planning for the future also means planning for the negative things that may come up. Knowing how you and your business will respond to future challenges now will significantly decrease downtime if those situations were ever to arise.

When your entire team is working toward the same thing, there is a greater sense of accountability, which in turn increases productivity. The first and most crucial step in implementing business strategies is to create attainable and measurable goals.

Once your goals are defined, you can start to create a plan to reach success. If you have a team of employees, it is important to make them aware of the goals you have set to ensure everyone can operate as a cohesive unit. It is an even better idea if you can include them in the goal-setting process. The strategic plan addresses the what and why of activities, but implementation addresses the who, where, when, and how. The fact is that both pieces are critical to success.

In fact, companies can gain competitive advantage through implementation if done effectively. Because you want your plan to succeed, heed the advice here and stay away from the pitfalls of implementing your strategic plan. Here are the most common reasons strategic plans fail:. Before you start this process, evaluate your strategic plan and how you may implement it by answering a few questions to keep yourself in check.

Often overlooked are the five key components necessary to support implementation: people, resources, structure, systems, and culture. All components must be in place in order to move from creating the plan to activating the plan. The first stage of implementing your plan is to make sure to have the right people on board. The right people include those folks with required competencies and skills that are needed to support the plan. In the months following the planning process, expand employee skills through training, recruitment, or new hires to include new competencies required by the strategic plan.

You need to have sufficient funds and enough time to support implementation. Often, true costs are underestimated or not identified. True costs can include a realistic time commitment from staff to achieve a goal, a clear identification of expenses associated with a tactic, or unexpected cost overruns by a vendor. Set your structure of management and appropriate lines of authority, and have clear, open lines of communication with your employees. A plan owner and regular strategy meetings are the two easiest ways to put a structure in place.

Meetings to review the progress should be scheduled monthly or quarterly, depending on the level of activity and time frame of the plan. Both management and technology systems help track the progress of the plan and make it faster to adapt to changes.

As part of the system, build milestones into the plan that must be achieved within a specific time frame. A scorecard is one tool used by many organizations that incorporates progress tracking and milestones. To reinforce the importance of focusing on strategy and vision, reward success. Develop some creative positive and negative consequences for achieving or not achieving the strategy. The rewards may be big or small, as long as they lift the strategy above the day-to-day so people make it a priority.

Implementing your plan includes several different pieces and can sometimes feel like it needs another plan of its own. Use the steps below as your base implementation plan. Great article , I am an MBA student from kenya and am intending to research on factors that influence the implementaton of strategic plans in kenyan schools.

Any idea on the relevant objectives and theories for my theoretical review and framework will be highly appreciated.

The article has been of invaluable use to me. I would like to get more articles on strategic Management since I have done an Undergraduate degree in Strategic Management. Good outline. Shorter-term plans, subsidiary plans, budgets, functional assignments, and job descriptions need to support this broader set of goals and objectives.

As a small business owner herself, she is well-versed in what it takes to run and market a small business. Anam earned an M. Learn more at www. Share It. Who is involved in strategy implementation What they need to accomplish How they will accomplish it When they need to accomplish it Where they will be completing their tasks Why these tasks are important to the success of the business. Resource allocation: Take into account how much time, money, personnel and technology you will need to implement your strategy.

Do you have enough? If not, can you increase your resources or alter your strategy? If you need to manage your personnel schedule and ensure that everyone is allocated the right tasks, an employee scheduling platform like Sling may be a good option. Team specialization: When figuring out who on your team will be part of your strategic implementation plan, be sure to review their areas of strength and expertise.

Give your team members the chance to take ownership of their areas of expertise, build new skills and improve their weaknesses. Consider whether you have the skills you need in house or if you have to outsource in order to implement your strategy. Measures of success: How will your team members know they have done a good job in implementing your strategy? Define your key performance indicators in detail, including a range of metrics for varying levels of success.