15 Absolutes for Success

Strategic Planning and Change results are directly tied to your organization’s ability to successfully implement your chosen plan. Below are fifteen tools and absolute ‘must haves’ for strategic planning and change implementation success. This is part one of two parts on techniques to ensure your organization’s implementation success.

PLANNING LEADERSHIP AND CHANGE
TOOLS – TIPS –TECHNIQUES FOR SUCCESSFUL IMPLEMENTATION

1. Have a clear and shared vision/values of your Ideal Future with customer-focused outcomes/measures and a clear positioning in the marketplace.
2. Set up an “internal cadre” support team with overall change management coordination reporting directly to the CEO/Executive Director.
3. Develop focused and shared core strategies as the glue for setting and reviewing annual goal setting and action planning for all major departments/SBUs, with a single page "tri-fold" to communicate the Strategic Plan.
4. Set up “Strategic Sponsorship Teams” (SST) of cross-functional leaders to develop, track, and monitor each core strategy.
5. Use a Consistent Annual Planning Format to link strategies/priorities to annual plans and results.
6. Set the Top Annual Priorities on only 2 pages to focus everyone on what's important next year.
7. Conduct Annual Large Group Review Meetings each year to ensure everyone knows and is “in sync” with everyone else.
8. Focus on and phase in the Vital Few Leverage Points for Strategic Change over the next 2-3 years, starting with leadership skill building immediately and then focus on being a “Star” in “value-added delivery,” Strategic Business Design and The People Edge.
9. Create a critical mass for change that “goes ballistic” and becomes self-sustaining through development of 3-year Business Plans/Annual Work Plans for all major divisions/departments.
10. Institutionalize the Parallel Process with all key stakeholders as the new participative way you plan, change, and run your business day-to-day.
11. Develop and gain public commitments of “Personal Leadership Plans” (PLPs) by all top management leaders then communicate, communicate, communicate!
12. Establish a Strategic Change Leadership Steering Committee led by the CEO with a single page yearly comprehensive implementation map that meets on a regular basis to lead, and manage all major changes.

13. Redo your HR Management Systems to support the new vision/values, especially your performance/rewards system and your performance appraisal form (evaluate people vs. core values and core strategies).
14. Set up KSFs and a Tracking System to ensure clarity/focus on the scoreboard for success.
15. Conduct the Annual Strategic Review (and Update) like an independent financial audit to ensure constant updating of your Strategic Plan as a living document every year.