Too often, leaders craft smart strategies and then are disappointed by their results. The problem lies not within the strategy itself but how it is interpreted and operationalized. Sometimes it is because leaders lose insight into the connection between the big picture and day-to-day work. When you show team members how what they do daily connects to a company's strategy, you will have successful execution.
Connecting the work of your team to strategy involves both framing your team's role in achieving strategic objectives and breaking down the team's work. Framing involves asking important questions: What does the strategy mean for your team? How does their work contribution to successful execution? Breaking down the work involves such questions as: Which activities are the highest priority? What milestones should be achieved?
In 2014, Insight Experience led a webinar in collaboration with HCI, the Human Capital Institute, called "Lost in Translation: The Missing Link in Strategy Execution." The webinar focused on developing leaders at every level in an organization to use their cognitive and interpersonal skills to translate strategies into clear direction and aligned action. Insight's own Nick Noyes and Karen Maxwell Powell discussed:
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A model that improves the effectiveness of strategy execution.
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Ways to put this approach and these underlying skills into action.
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Ways to gain insight into learning and applying the model and skills at an organization.
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How to assess leaders' abilities to effectively translate strategy.
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Useful tools for strategy execution.
To hear both Nick and Karen discuss the three critical elements of strategy translation—understanding, connecting, and aligning leaders at all levels—check out the two HCI podcast discussions below.
In this discussion, Karen answers the question: What are the challenges in strategy execution for a leader who is new to management?
If you would like to explore the slides shown during the webinar, you can do so here:
