Every decision must be backed by action for it to matter. That goes for small businesses and big businesses as well. Decisions in the boardroom will sit through time without anything happening if no one acts on it. And that goes true for every aspect of our lives.
Take, for instance, climate change. Many environmentalists have branded CEO ExxonMobil Lee Raymond as anti-eco-friendly for years now. But it was not until a wide coalition of environmentalist groups launched a vigorous campaign to oust him as a board of JPMorgan Chase that he was taken out of the picture. Of course, people remember Raymond as the chairman of Exxon when the tragic oil spill, which had 11 million gallons filled with crude oil carried by one of its tankers, spilled to the Alaskan sea in 1989.
Indeed, making strategies happen is crucial in steering your organization. A seamless execution ensures your company holds true to its promise allowing your brand to stand out heads above the competition. It’s no small feat. Add limited human capital and logistics and a burgeoning amount of work, and things could get ugly pretty fast. That’s how the COVID-19 virus overwhelmed American hospitals in 2020.
Fortunately, you can apply a proven method to harness your organization’s potential. With expert advisory turned into simple rules, you should be closer to a seamless execution for your strategy than otherwise. Here’s to a great start.
Focus on What You Want to Accomplish
You mustn’t lose sight of what you want to get done. And that means you should give your objectives top priority. To do that, you need to ensure two things:
- You need to set the time frame. It’s not just important that you know what to accomplish. You must also put a deadline to the task. If you don’t, then you’re already undermining your project at hand.
- You need to focus on two to three crucial objectives that should be achieved within the time frame you’ve set.
And as you prioritize these things, it would mean you have to give it ample effort, time, and attention. In the long run, that can translate to getting non-essential work and distractions out of the picture. We’re not saying you should focus all your effort and time on accomplishing the task or project at hand. It’s important, however, that you give it ample attention.
Make Those Objectives Non-negotiable
You must put greater weight on your objectives. It must not just be something you wish were true or wishful thinking. Rather, it must be treated seriously.
And that means you have to take responsibility for completing each objective, which translates to being held accountable should things go haywire down the road. To do that, you need to come up with achievable action plans to reach each of your agreed objectives. This is like cutting an elephant to pieces so you can eat it.
A good example here is property assessment. When you assess a home for energy compliance, you need an expert to do the energy audit of the house. Doing so means putting your commitment on the line, so due diligence happens. Small wonder, the best property assessment companies not only can come up with competent audits on time, but they also do so with utmost efficiency. In this regard, a company that can cater to the whole country well is therefore laudable.
Give Those Objectives Owners
There’s a huge chasm between rolling out a strategic objective and execution. The former is usually done by management, while the latter is handed down the line. And that can be problematic in the long run.
Remember that execution boils down to specific individuals and distinct teams. To do that, you need to appoint a dependable owner for each objective. Added to that, you must establish clear-cut reporting lines, so things go on smoothly.
Strategic Sessions vs. Operational Issues
There’s a tendency to be caught at the moment and forget about your goals in a meeting. In the words of Stephen Covey, the renowned author, one must be able to distinguish what’s important from what’s urgent. He calls it the Four Quadrants in our operations. The trick is to know how to prioritize things before devoting your time to a particular endeavour.
The same holds true for your meetings. Separate operations issues when you do strategic planning. A good way to do that is to separate meeting schedules for operations and strategic reviews. That way, you devote time to reviewing your organization’s strategy execution.
Factor a Program Monitor
Indeed, what gets to be measured gets done. Thus, you must have someone to oversee those objective owners. He must know the latest on the progress of the execution. Without an authority figure to look over their shoulders, things can go south pretty fast. And that can complicate to bad execution.
With someone to supervise, quality is monitored, and problems are directly handled as they happen. Without ample attention from a higher-up, those involved may fail in keeping the objectives a priority. Needless to say, you can’t afford to have that.
