By guest blogger Mark Allen Roberts
Around the world senior leadership teams are being sequestered off into strategic planning sessions for 2010. Market-leading teams are reviewing new market data and creating road maps for their businesses that will drive future growth and increase shareholder value. Yes, strategic planning is at the forefront of everyone’s mind this time of year, along with the promise that in 2010, the plan WILL get executed, by golly. No more setting the plan aside and allowing everyday tasks and fires to shove it out of the way. Instead, everyone will set aside some time each week to do a little work to execute the plan. Next year is a new year, and it is time to do things differently.
You just need to focus a little more, right?
The thing is, you’ve said this every year, and every year, things get in the way. Important things like your best customer telling you that he can’t buy as much product from you due to the economy. Or your operations manager deciding to take a job somewhere else, so you have to cover until you find another person and get him trained. Or your business acquires a competitor…or you get acquired. Things happen that you can’t predict, and your strategic plan, once again, gets put on a side burner, or even worse, is no longer applicable.
It is estimated that less than 25% of strategic plans are fully executed. Should it surprise us that over 70% of sales representatives missed their goals in 2009, yet those same representatives will receive increased goals in 2010? Was the plan off…or did their teams lack the ability and tools to execute their plan?
What are you going to do to ensure that your team is one of the 30% executing its objectives in 2010?
What you need is something that will keep you and everyone else in your team on track and in alignment with your business road map. You need something that will help you and your team communicate. It needs to be flexible enough to allow the plan to change as circumstances warrant, to communicate those changes, and to allow you to realign everyone else’s piece of the original plan to the new one. You need something that facilitates meaningful discussions about things that matter.
That’s a tall order.
What you need is a strategy execution management system. Over the years I have helped teams develop strategic plans and coach teams to keep them on track. Today, though, I recommend my clients align their teams with the KeyneLink system. Part process, part software, and part roadmap, it leads, guides, and directs you from your strategic planning process through to the complete execution of your plan. KeyneLink is flexible enough to change as you change, to help you communicate with your team, and to ensure the key initiatives you set out to execute get done…even when it feels like your hair is on fire.
Each year, books are written and consultants like me are hired to help teams create plans that leverage their unique core competencies while taking advantage of their competitors’ weaknesses. This year I highly recommend your leaders request a private demonstration of KeyneLink to ensure you receive the return on investment from your strategic planning. Make 2010 the year that you meet your plan and gain a market leadership position while your competitors drift off plan, move into ready-fire aim mode, and find out no one is on the same page come September of 2010.
Make 2010 your year.
Mark Allen Roberts is the President and CEO of Out of the Box Solutions Consulting and is an author of the book titled Branding Backwards, public speaker, and consultant to market leading organizations. Mark’s blog at www.nosmokeandmirrors.com is read by thousands of business leaders each month.
