Home
>
Strategic Planning
>
Three Steps to Give Your Strategic Plan Traction

Three Steps to Give Your Strategic Plan Traction

We all agree Strategic Planning is a critical part of a company's success. All too often, however, strategic plans stall before they ever make it to execution - or they gradually lose momentum. The organization is then left in a vulnerable and uncomfortable position of continuing to go about its business with good intentions but no focused direction or aligned action. Move intention into action using this three step remedy.

Step 1. Accountability - Get a grip on Results

Get a grip on results by having each member clearly articulate the end results rather than just activities. We use an Accountability Agreement to accomplish this (see www.AlignOnline.com). An Accountability Agreement defines the business outcomes an individual is promising to deliver, and outlines the resources and support that he or she needs from others in order to deliver these results. An Accountability Agreement is broken down into seven areas:

Business Focus Statement - Understand your company and your role within it.

No employee should sit on the sidelines as a casual observer of an organization's success. This area focuses on the business of the company and the unique value each member brings to the organization. In short, why does the job exist and what do you bring to the table? This is then related to the role each person plays in the execution of the strategic plan.

Operational Accountabilities - Outline the end results you are accountable for achieving.

The strategic plan serves as a template to outline who is accountable for bringing about various end results of the strategic plan. Focusing Accountability for various parts of the strategic plan that the individual can significantly influence and achieve is the key to clearly articulating who is accountable for producing specific end-results.

Leadership Accountabilities - Set the tone and culture.

Integrating the leadership style into your strategic plan sets a tone throughout the organization. Leaders successfully execute the plan by focusing on the people side of their role and how they expect people to work together. Leadership accountabilities set the tone for the leadership style, and introduces the notion that "leaders model the way".

Goals- Your road markers.

Goals are specific milestones that are derived directly from your accountabilities. Goals can be described as SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time Based.

Support Requirements- Identify the support and resources you need.

Success in organizations demands a significant level of teamwork and reciprocity. The individual is accountable for achieving end results in a context of mutual support. No one gets anything done alone. The alignment meeting described below creates a conversation where this interdependence is made visible and negotiated.

Sustainment Plan- Plan to keep it alive.

This describes how to keep accountabilities up-to-date and focused on business results as circumstances change. As things change, agreements must be adapted, renewed and revitalized.

Positive Consequences

A job is a business bargain between an individual and an organization. To get beyond the parent/child or master/servant relationship, effective individuals bargain for what they want, and can realistically expect, through a fair and reasonable exchange.

Step 2: Alignment- Align like a laser

When all members of a workgroup have completed their individual Accountability Agreements as described above, hold an alignment meeting. This process makes difficult issues discussable. Gaps and overlaps in individual accountabilities and goals are resolved and interdependencies and mutual support is agreed upon. At the end of an alignment meeting you can revise Accountability Agreements and realign on a regular basis as circumstances change or memories of agreements fade.

Gaining traction for your strategic plan ideally begins with your senior management team. Once you've identified who's accountable, made commitments and aligned this senior group, you can then cascade it down a level at a time. The process of cascading continues until all employees understand what results they are expected to produce and how they are aligned interdependently with the rest of the company.

Step 3: Achievement Individuals usually experience immediate value from the clarity of their business bargain provided by this process. The Alignment of individuals who know what is expected of them and who know what they want in return creates a powerful force for corporate success.

About the Accountability/Alignment Process:

The process we've outlined above has been consistently successful with our clients. We've made this process available to the public through our books Accountability: getting a grip on results, and Aligned like a laser, and have recently made our online tool (AlignOnline) available to organizations and consultants who wish to use it in their consulting practice. Visit us at www.alignonline.com for more articles on Strategic Planning, Accountability, and Alignment and information on our books and online Accountability tool.

Shaun Murphy, Ph.D. and Bruce Klatt, M.A. are senior partners in Murphy Klatt Consulting and authors of Aligned Like a Laser (2004) and Accountability: Getting a Grip on Results (1997). They are internationally recognized experts in the field of Organizational Effectiveness whose books have sold over 100,000 copies internationally.

For more information please go to www.alignonline.com or try their online Accountability Alignment tool at www.alignonline.com

efficient cleaning crew Northbrook ..

In The News:

Chinese hackers used Anthropic's Claude AI to launch autonomous cyberattacks on 30 organizations worldwide, marking a major shift in cybersecurity threats.

Apple's new Sleep Score feature gives you a rating for your nightly rest quality. Learn how to set it up on your Apple Watch and iPhone today.

Essential phone settings to enable before losing your device, including Find My network, location services and security features for iPhone and Android.

The Fox News AI Newsletter gives readers the latest AI technology advancements, covering the challenges and opportunities AI presents.

Cybersecurity research shows weak passwords remain a major threat, with simple patterns and number sequences putting millions of accounts at risk.

New Android malware BankBot YNRK silences phones, steals banking data and drains crypto wallets automatically. Learn how this advanced threat works.

FDA approves first human trial for Paradromics' brain-computer interface that could restore speech for paralyzed patients through neural technology.

New phishing platform QRR targets Microsoft 365 users across 1,000 domains in 90 countries. Learn how to spot fake login pages and protect your accounts.

OpenTable now uses AI to track your dining habits and share insights with restaurants. Learn what data they collect and how to protect your privacy.

Google's discontinued Nest thermostats still secretly upload home data to company servers despite losing smart features, raising serious privacy concerns.

New Android malware NGate steals NFC payment codes in real-time, allowing criminals to withdraw cash from ATMs without your card. Learn protection tips.

DoorDash confirms data breach exposing customer names, emails, addresses after social engineering attack. Learn how to protect yourself from scams.

Concerned about Google's AI scanning your Gmail? Learn how to disable Gemini features that access your emails, Drive files and Chat messages for privacy.

Google warns Android users about dangerous fake VPN apps hiding malware that steals passwords, banking details and personal data from phones and tablets.

Apple's digital passport feature lets iPhone users breeze through TSA checkpoints this holiday season using Digital ID technology at 250+ airports.

A new phishing scam targets family photos with fake "Cloud Storage Full" alerts. Criminals steal credit card information through fake sites. Learn protection tips.

South Korean scientists create ultra-thin fabric muscles that turn clothes into robotic assistants, lifting 33 pounds while weighing under half an ounce.

Archer Aviation has acquired Hawthorne Airport for $126M to launch an LA air taxi network ahead of the 2028 Olympics, featuring AI-powered eVTOL operations and next-gen aviation tech.

Stay up to date on the latest AI technology advancements and learn about the challenges and opportunities AI presents now and for the future.

Fake AI apps disguised as "ChatGPT" and "DALL·E" are flooding app stores with dangerous malware that steals data and monitors users without detection.

Fake buyers demand specific vehicle reports from unknown sites to steal credit card information from car sellers, but warning signs can help identify these scams before paying.

Android users can now manage apps across multiple devices more easily with Google Play Store's updated remote uninstall button in the latest update.

NASA's Perseverance rover discovers shiny metallic rock on Mars that could be a meteorite from an ancient asteroid, containing high levels of iron and nickel.

Holiday scams spike during Black Friday and Cyber Monday as criminals exploit your leaked personal data. Learn how to protect yourself from fake stores and phishing.

Commerce Department proposes TP-Link router ban over Chinese security risks. Learn how this potential prohibition could affect your home network and devices.