Create a Culture That Supports

One of the most important roles for managers in implementing outstanding strategies is to cultivate a culture that supports it. At many organizations, strategy is a top priority for the CEO or leadership team, but it often doesn’t come through the way managers should be working. It’s critical to have a clear vision for the organization and a strategy that reflects it.

There are three keys to creating a culture that supports exceptional performance.

• First, provide employees with all of the information they need to execute strategy, but don’t provide any more than they need.
• Second, give them the freedom to pursue alternative strategies, even if those strategies are better than yours.
• Third, reward the successful implementation of strategy, and recognize the execution of alternative strategies, instead of rewarding the person who came up with the strategy in the first place.

Empower Your People with Authority

In a small business, having a strategy that requires the support and involvement of your whole team is the key to success. It can take some time for the strategy to mature and start having an impact. Here are three ways to give your team the authority they need to execute.

1. Ask for feedback: Have open meetings where everyone in your company can give you honest input. Make it safe for people to speak up and say what they think, without fear of embarrassment or retribution.
2. Encourage feedback: Make it okay to give constructive criticism. If a colleague says you’re being too negative, they’re right. You need to stop being so negative. It’s good to learn from your own feedback. But don’t be afraid to tell someone how they’re doing, especially if they ask for your opinion.
3. Show respect: People won’t stick around when they feel disrespected. Take the time to listen and show appreciation. If they ask for help, help them. If they have a question, answer it.

Create a Strong Communication Plan

When implementing a new strategy or plan, you have to start with a strong communication plan. A strong communication plan sets expectations and lays out the steps to execute your plan, ensuring that all relevant people understand what is going to happen and what is expected of them. A strong communication plan also helps you track the progress of your goals, giving you the opportunity to change or adjust the plan if necessary.

To effectively communicate a strategic initiative, managers must clearly articulate why it’s necessary and why it’s valuable. They should also consider how to structure a presentation that will allow employees to quickly grasp the message and understand why it’s necessary for them to implement it.

As an added benefit, managers can also use this opportunity to discuss the consequences of not implementing the strategy. For example, if there’s an upcoming deadline, managers can share how failure to implement the initiative will result in negative consequences for the company.

There are many reasons why companies fail. One of them is their lack of strategy. Without a strategy, a company has no chance of reaching its goals and reaching the market leadership position it deserves. A good strategy helps in the following ways: it provides a vision; it provides the necessary framework for implementation; it ensures alignment and efficiency; it identifies and eliminates conflicts; it supports all decision-making; it fosters transparency; it reduces risk, and it improves accountability.