Define the strategy

Once the strategy of your company is defined, it has to be communicated opportunely. This will create the alignment between the different departments that is crucial to sense the common direction of where the business is heading.

With that common direction, everyone should know what, and how to contribute. Therefore each team or individual participating in the initiative, should have a specific target they commit themselves to. These targets are usually managed as KPIs and must align with the strategic objectives.

Focus on the crucially important.

Between all the activities we carry out at work, it is extremely challenging to distinguish the crucially important, like the ones related to the strategy execution, and the day-to-day tasks. These everyday tasks, related to operations, are often associated with putting out fires. The strategic approach however, is proven to derive tangible results among the havoc at the workplace. Since we create focus on the strategically important, we recommend the energy should be allocated to no more than 2-3 KPIs.

Define SMART KPIs

The KPIs can be validated using the following method:

Now, if you applied the SMART principle correctly, you should be left with a target formulated in the following manner:

“Reduce the sickness rate of the factory workers from 12% to 7% by the end of 2024.“

“Improve the resolution time for the customer claims from 30 days to 20 days by the end of 2024.”

As you may have  noticed, this exercise requires operational data in order to establish the baseline and define a challenging, although reachable end-target.

Adopt a data-driven mindset.

If your company has not yet implemented a data-driven mindset, this is a great place to start and initiate the cultural change in your organization. If you would like to know more on deploying a data-driven culture in your company check out our blog on “Data-Driven Excellence: Strategies for Cultivating a Data-First Culture”.

Another data related exercise is that we need to find the variables that influence the end result. These are called the leading metrics. They are measurements of the daily, critical activities that you can act on and control, which will ultimatelty lead to the results you want.

KPIs can have various predictive indicators. However they might have a different magnitude of influence over the final target. Some predictors are just better at predicting  than others.

So, sometimes we simply need to review our available data and generate enough insights that will validate our prediction. However, there might be times where the data will have to be collected first, in order to evaluate different relationships between the predictive indicator and the KPI. In this case we recommend piloting  various scenarios and measure several leading metrics in order to identify which one is the best predictor.

Implement accountability.

The final, most important principle, and the key to a successful strategy execution is Accountability. 

We want everyone on the team to contribute, ideally equally, and from their own perspective, scope and expertise. By having regular, weekly meetings and having everyone on that meeting take one task or activity they committed themselves to will create the sense of ownership and contribution. Both of these qualities are expected both from oneself and from the entire team.

The 4 steps of successful strategy deployment.

These 4 simple steps are the recipe for success on the Strategy Execution journey. The benefits of this deployment method are not only related to company growth. It also results in improved employee satisfaction, as working in a focused and organized manner creates a better, more enjoyable working environment. Identifying the crucially important KPIs creates the prioritization and ability to say “no” to aspects that are less important. This approach enables every individual within the company to create the necessary time to work on the strategic objectives, while being able to distinguish the everyday whirlwind, conserving valuable time and energy.

In today’s competitive environment, organizations cannot afford to fall short when it comes to turning their strategic visions into tangible results. That’s where effective strategy execution methods come into play. From aligning resources and empowering teams to tracking progress and adapting to change, the journey from strategy formulation to implementation requires a well-defined roadmap and a commitment to action.

If you would like to know more, or if you are struggling with the strategy deployment at your company, do not hesitate to get in touch with us!