Implementation — Operationalizing the Future

The most difficult aspect of strategy for most companies, is the implementation. Having strategic goals is a good start, but now you have to put them into motion.

The key to successfully implementing your strategy is to embed it into your daily operations. That takes focus and discipline throughout the organization.

DETERMINE KEY PRIORITIES
If everything is called a priority, then nothing is. In fact, what’s worse is that people at lower levels, faced with the impossible task of trying to respond to everything, end up deciding what is important based on their more limited sense of the company’s strategy and their ability to get things done.

By clarifying the few Key Priorities, leadership teams appropriately delegate priority-setting to their people, which gets everyone on the same page.

DEFINE ACTIONS
What actions need to be taken to complete the Key Priorities? What is the timeline for each? Who will be responsible?

Examples: Which markets should be targeted? Which key processes should be improved and how? Is a culture change needed? How do we develop a change plan?

DETERMINE TRACKING
‘You can’t manage it if you don’t measure it’. Define what needs to be tracked and how, in order to know the Actions are having the proper impact to support the Key Priorities and consequently the Strategic Goals.

It is estimated that 90 percent of organizations fail to execute their strategies successfully. Do you want to be one of the 90 percent, or one of the 10 percent who are successful? If you want to be in that ‘10% club’, we can help you get there.

The Results

• Force-ranked Key Priorities for the organization
• A systematic approach to achieve the strategic goals
• A refocused organization
• Identifies the “need to have” vs. the “nice to have”
• Operationalizes the strategy, moving from planning 
to implementation
• Ingrains the strategy into day-to-day activities
• A more streamlined organization
• A way of tracking Actions to ensure progress 
is being made to accomplish the Key Priorities.

The Targeted Outcomes

• Growth – increase revenues/profits
• Increase market share
• Create a stronger competitive position
• Create the desired organizational focus
• Improve effectiveness
• Create better operational efficiency
• Higher market valuation – preparing to sell the company
• Succession
• Risk management
• Turnaround

Case Study: Succession & Long-Term Strategic Success

TheSituationI

The Situation

A family business owner has built a highly successful and profitable business from inception. Over the years, his sons have joined the business working their way through the company learning various functions. The company remains rooted in the entrepreneurial phase of its evolution with the business strategy firmly in the founder’s head. The father wants to step back from daily operations and have his sons move the company forward. He realized that to do this, his sons need to be deeply involved in creating the strategy as well as implementing it. A formal structure with clear roles and responsibilities must be created and a culture and organizational change is needed to be able to move the company to its next stage of evolution.

TheResultsImp

The Results

Sekstant was engaged to help the family team create the business strategy, define the organizational strategy, and look longer term at what needs to happen operationally to achieve their strategy. By developing the company’s Key Priorities, Actions and Measurement, the company is able to take their defined strategy into implementation. By regularly reviewing progress on the Actions and determining appropriate measurement or tracking, they can readily see how their progress is helping them achieve longer term strategic success.

As preparation for the sons moving into company leadership, evaluating each individual’s strengths and mentoring was also an important piece for this family-owned business.

Have Trouble Implementing Strategy?

Our process can help imbed your strategy into daily activities putting your strategy into action.

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