We’ve all been there – we spend significant time and resources creating a strategic plan, and then when it comes to executing it, something else takes priority. While we understand the benefits of creating clear goals for our teams, they can sometimes be challenging to translate into tangible actions.
Successfully implementing your strategic plan helps you engage your team and stakeholders, show meaningful progress, and demonstrate transparency. It also allows you to track and measure results and make the most of budgets and allocated resources.
Alternatively, failing to implement a strategic plan can expose your organisation to various risks. Setting a course without anyone steering the ship in the right direction can result in unutilised resources, wasted time, and investment.
So, what usually goes wrong? After creating a strategic plan, we tend to focus on what to do next and become stuck in the weeds. We rarely create a well-defined action plan that aligns with the budget, sets clear priorities, or measures progress. On top of this, not every action plan is created equal. Many are loosely defined, not adequately assigned, or aligned with key performance measures.
We've put together A Practical Guide to implementing your strategic plan. This guide:
Discusses the differences between strategy, action and execution
Provides five Tips to turn your strategic plan into action
Outlines the elements of a well-designed action plan
Provides tips on tracking and sharing your progress
Discusses how to evolve your living plan and share and recognise success