Strategic Planning Process

Execution: The Art of Getting Things Done

By Erica Olsen ⋅ June 1, 2007 ⋅  Email this post ⋅  Print this post ⋅ Post a comment

As companies
scrutinize performance in demanding market conditions, leaders are increasingly
analyzing their abilities to execute on strategy. In the past, leaders were
called upon to deliver the strategic vision, and managers were expected to
handle the details that turn that vision into reality. Today, this is
changing—and changing for the better.

Execution is
the process that turns strategies and plans into actions in order to accomplish
strategic objectives and goals. Execution of your plan, ideas, strategy, or
project is arguably as important, or even more important, than your strategy.
Ruthless commitment to executing critical actions moves anything from words on
a piece of paper to actions that drive business growth. Sadly, the majority of
companies do a miserable job at execution. An article in Fortune some
years ago highlighted that nine out of ten organizations failed in the area of
execution for the following reasons:

• 60 percent of organizations don’t link strategy to budgeting
• 75 percent of organizations don’t link employee incentives to
       strategy
• 86 percent of business owners and managers spend less than one hour
       per month discussing strategy
• 95 percent of a typical workforce doesn’t understand their
       organization’s strategy.

A plan, any kind of
plan, provides a leader with the roadmap it needs to pursue a specific
strategic direction and set of performance goals, deliver customer value, and
be successful. However, this is just a plan; it doesn’t guarantee that the
desired performance is reached any more than having a roadmap guarantees the
traveler arrives at the desired destination.

Here are four
different areas that will help you execute anything flawlessly:

# 1: Getting set up for success Before you start the execution process,
evaluate your plan for action and implementation. Identify the specific issues
and choices your strategic plan should address. A plan is only as good as the
information on which it’s based.

#2: Coach for performance Act like a coach and use the plan as your
framework to guide your team to high performance.

#3: Commit to effective meetings. Schedule regular meetings to report on
plan or project status. This is critical to making the numbers and achieving
company strategic goals.

#4: Hold everyone accountable – including
yourself
Accountability is key to successful execution — hands down. If you and your
team don’t have to report to anyone on your progress, the plan may find itself
further and further down your to-do list or at the bottom of your stacks of
paper.

You don’t need to
have perfected these, but just make sure that you’ve given all the areas equal
consideration. You don’t want to look back six months from now, and wish you
had identified some big issues that are now threatening your success. If you’ve
identified some red flags, assess if they’re huge obstacles or small ones. If
they’re big, get them out of the way before you execute, even if it means
pushing your timeline out for awhile.