Strategy isn’t always easy. After over 10 years of facilitating teams and leaders as they work on organisational strategy, we’ve seen that there are lots of reasons people struggle with strategy development.
For one thing it can be difficult to know where to start – vision, strategic aims, objectives, actions, tasks. All the different parts of it can feel overwhelming. Sometimes it feels easier to leave it half written or not embark upon it in the first place.
Doing regular strategy development the ‘right way’.
There is also often the feeling that you are not doing it right. One organisation’s strategy will be different from the next. Although there are a few core ingredients, there is no ‘right way’. Just the way that is right for you are your company.
Once you have a strategy, it will need to be articulated in a way that actually does what you need it to do. That can take some thinking. Simple, accessible (and written in the first place!) is far better than something glossy and detailed and locked away in a glass cabinet. Something that no one is going to read.
Even the very best strategies can fail.
Why? Because they are written in a way that leaves people feeling ‘pinned down’ or restricted by the constraints of the strategy. Of course the idea is that you or your team carry out the strategy that was created. But it doesn’t need to be followed to the letter for it to work. A little flexibility can go a long way to making a strategy fit for all potential purposes.
A strategy is not the kind of thing that you create and then ‘apply ‘to your organisation. Instead, it needs to be created with the right people and woven into your day to day.
A key part of embedding your strategy is helping your teams see the value in the strategy and where they fit into it. As things will shift and change as time goes on you will find that you need to review and adapt and update your strategy. For that, you need the involvement of the right people who see the value in developing your strategy.
As such, check ins are an important part of developing your strategy. Important enough that you should factor them in right from the start. For that to happen, ensure your glorious creation fits with the people who are going to be implementing it.
Align your regular strategy development with current plans
Consider things like project cycles, meeting patterns, financial deadlines and events that are happening. If you can link your strategy reviews to plans that have already been made, it is less likely to feel like yet another thing to schedule. People are more likely to align when things line up neatly. Putting these into your strategy at the start will help make sure this happens.
Time doesn’t stand still while you write your strategy. Leave enough room to develop, review and refine your strategy when you create it. You don’t want to find yourself with a half written, incomplete strategy a year into a five year strategic plan!
It can be helpful to work out what you are willing to change as part of a strategy review. Nothing in life or business is ever completely certain and ploughing on ahead, focusing solely on a fixed end point might not always get you to where you want to be. So take the time to listen to what people in your organisation are telling you when you ask how it’s going. Think about what questions you need to ask to gather this information. Trust that their insights will show you the way forward.
Working on your strategy doesn’t necessarily make it easy. But planning in time to listen and review, will make your strategy more successful as you adapt as you go.
Struggling with your strategy?
If you’ve been struggling to get started on your strategy going, or to keep the momentum, get in touch.
We can discuss your situation and see how our skills and workshops around regular strategy development might be able to help give your strategy the boost it needs.
