Strategies are of little value if they are not implemented effectively. But implementation is difficult in an already busy schedule.
Unless each follower can see where they fit and what they need to contribute; the chances of a strategy being effectively implemented are low. The key is to explicitly show each follower what they need to do, when and with whom. This may sound impossible, but I will tell you how it can be done.
Firstly lets consider some of the workplace dynamics that work against implementing a strategy:
There is not enough time to do everything that needs to be done
Action plans are poorly aligned to strategic plans
Leaders are unsure about what is actually happening
Followers find it hard to identify exactly when and how they need to contribute to a strategy
Important actions are sometimes missed or forgotten, so workflows are interrupted
Complete lists of actions are rare, so personal time management is hard
Often followers are not aware of the consequences of not doing an action allocated to them
Relevant changes are poorly communicated to the people who need to know
Followers see telling other people what they are doing as wasted (unproductive) time
To overcome these unhelpful workplace dynamics, we need to do the following:
Break strategic plans into a number of related action plans
Identify the actions required to complete each action plan
Populate each followers ToDo list with the actions they need to do for the strategic plan
Make responsibility and accountability clear
Keep followers informed about relevant changes
Automate reporting based on actions completed to minimize unproductive time
Unfortunately the level of training and discipline required to implement the above list of actions is unrealistic and unachievable in real life. However experience in many workplaces has shown that a leader using smart software on web or mobile browsers can create a leadership platform to implement the above list of actions with relative ease.
The key is to let the software execute the boring, but essential, management processes in the background and present relevant information from each persons perspective. This keeps leaders informed, frees followers to do productive work, and gets strategies implemented in record time.
For more information on TASKeys Leadership Platform visit
www.taskey.com
