Organizations that are strategy-focused are more effective with their resources, have higher employee retention, and make more money because they serve their markets better than their counterparts. And they stay in business longer because they proactively respond to the environment around them. Want to create a culture that’s strategy-focused? Here’s a hit list of ideas gathered from a bunch of different organizations to help create the organization:
- Be a strategic leader. Lead by example and prioritize your strategic plan over everything else. Stay committed.
- Cut out the jargon. Make sure everyone in your organization really understands the plan.
- Hang your one-page strategic plan in the break room or another central location.
- Involve your staff in the final development of the plan. Ask for and use employee ideas.
- Create a “champion” or owner for every goal and action. Make strategy everyone’s job.
- Ask your employees to create the action items to support their assigned goals.
- Review the plan with management or the group. Align the organization with the strategy.
- Use a scorecard to monitor progress monthly.
- Schedule regular updates. Hold a monthly meeting, one-on-one with the team leaders, where you only discuss strategy. Hold a quarterly full staff strategy meeting to report on the progress.
- Challenge underlying assumptions. Revisit and refine the strategic plan three months from now.
- Hold yourself accountable through a mentor, personal coach, or business organization.
- Link strategy to performance.
- Continually scan your environment to identify changes that may impact your strategy.
- Reward success! Throw a party when significant goals are reached.