That Brilliant Planning Is for Nothing if You Fail to Implement It Properly
Key Takeaways:
- Every business, no matter the size, needs a strategic business plan
- But even the greatest of plans go nowhere without proper implementation
- 90% of organizations fail to execute their strategic plans successfully
- Commitment, cross-organizational alignment, communication, and measurement are all key parts of a successful strategic business plan
Solid strategic planning is essential for every business, but coming up with a great plan leads to nothing without proper execution. And this is where many organizations struggle – precisely where commitment and the proper tools converge to support true performance improvement. Planning is nothing without goals, but your goals will not be met without taking the actions that will get you there.
We’ve found that while many leaders can develop great strategies, 90% fail to execute them successfully. Why? A lack of focus and commitment. This leaves organizations continuously working in a reactionary mode, resulting in missed opportunities, a lack of clear direction, and no real understanding of what business success looks like.
The Profit Recipe has 50 years of combined real-world leadership experience to help you become a better and authentic leader. We’ll help you plan and implement your strategies, meet your 2023 goals, gain traction, implement your vision, and drive growth far into the future. It’s about leading by design, not happenstance, facilitated by the Entrepreneurial Operating System®️ (EOS®️). EOS offers practical tools and concepts to help you plan and execute your business strategies.
One powerful tool is the Vision/Traction Organizer™ (V/TO™) that is the key to simplifying your strategic planning process. It gets the vision out of your brain and onto paper and asks you eight essential questions that will help you gain clarity about the future you want for your company. Ready to get started? Read on.
The importance of strategic business planning
For a company to grow and succeed, it needs a long-term strategic business plan. This plan gives your organization the tools to set a budget, track growth, and proactively prepare for the unpredictable changes in the marketplace. Your strategic business plan should focus not on near-term operating goals but on long-term growth objectives.
Your strategic business plan pairs company objectives with marketplace needs. It defines company goals but also plans out how to utilize those goals to reap the benefits of opportunities as they arise. Your plan must include extensive market research, deep studies of industry trends, and competitor analyses.
A strategic plan includes components of a traditional plan, but your strategic plan will be more specific on how the company will achieve its goals. For example, a strategic business plan will identify a target market, narrow it down to a manageable size, and establish a strategy for acquiring those customers.
Strategic business plans are essential for companies of all sizes. The key to a successful plan is proper execution.
The keys to executing your strategic business plan successfully
Your well-formulated business strategy plan will only succeed with proper execution. The gap between strategy and implementation must be bridged. A nicely written strategy that’s never put into action has either no impact or a negative impact on a company. Here’s a path to success you can apply to your organization.
Commit to a single strategic plan
Before attempting to execute your plan, ensure that all decision-makers and stakeholders agree on the strategic plan. This is crucial. A study reported that 71% of employees in organizations with weak execution think that strategic decisions lack real commitment by company leaders.
By committing to a strategic plan prior to implementation, you ensure that all decision-makers, as well as their teams, are aligned with the same goals. This forges a shared understanding of the overarching strategic plan across the entire organization.
Committing to a strategy doesn’t mean it’s set in stone. Your strategic business plan must evolve with new challenges and opportunities as they arise. It is essential to communicate any shift to all stakeholders so everyone stays on the same page.
Align jobs to fit your strategy
Employee roles must be designed with your strategy in mind to be successful. Misalignment happens when staff is hired before you formulate and commit to a strategy or when established roles align with a past company strategy. By designing jobs to fit your strategy, you can hire top talent to successfully execute it.
Empower employees with clear communication
How many of your employees even know you have a strategic business plan, much less what’s in it? That’s the case for 95% of staff, which hampers your path toward your goals. The smart executive practices clear communication.
The execution of your strategic business plan depends on daily tasks done through sound decision-making. Ensuring that everyone in your organization understands not only the business’s broad strategic goals but also recognizes that the way people perform their individual jobs makes it possible to reach those goals.
One simple, valuable EOS tool is the Meeting Pulse, which ensures everyone is connected and informed about everything that’s going on. Your teams will know what projects are on track and which are not, and you can identify issues before they become a larger problem.
Train managers to share the impact of the work their team does daily, talk about goals in staff meetings, and foster the kind of culture that celebrates the achievement of milestones on the path to greater goals.
Determine KPIs, monitor, and measure
Execution of a strategic business plan is dependent on continual reassessment. To do this, you have to establish key performance indicators (KPIs). These should be decided when devising your plan and success should be measured quantitatively, using solid data. Otherwise, how do you know if you’re on track to meet your goals and moving toward your vision?
Let’s say, for example, you have a goal of obtaining 100 new customers by the end of the year. By keeping a record of how many new customers your company has gained on a regular basis, you can get a good grasp of trends over time.
Flexibility in your plan is essential: If you find you’re not gaining the customers you want, it could mean your plan needs tweaking because it is not working to meet goals. But if your data shows steady customer growth, you’ll be able to use that data to predict if you will meet your goal of 100 new customers.
Balance innovation with control
Innovation is a vital driving force for company growth, but it should not derail the effective execution of your plan. You want to be able to leverage innovation while staying the course on your strategy implementation. This requires developing a process to evaluate any barriers, challenges, and opportunities that arise.
Before implementing your strategy, decide who will make decisions on strategy pivots and what elements of the strategy are non-negotiable. This should be part of your plan to provide clarity during implementation.
Don’t be too rigid: the stagnant organization does not grow. Employees should be encouraged to experiment, brainstorm, and take well-informed, calculated risks while keeping the overall strategic goals in mind.
The bottom line? Planning is nothing without execution. By taking the right steps, you can implement a strategic business plan that positions your company for growth and profitability.
At The Profit Recipe, we teach leaders of all stripes to be more self-aware, embrace their vulnerability, and learn to delegate effectively to lead by design, not by accident. We understand the leadership skills entrepreneurs need for success, and we can show you how to elevate your team.
Both new and experienced leaders can become the kind of coaches and managers who direct valuable teams that drive growth. Let us support your entrepreneurial journey – schedule a call with one of our experts today, or send us a message.