Reading time: minute(s)
Your business strategy is only helpful if you use it. It won’t bring results just sitting on your desk, collecting dust in your filing cabinet or buried in a forgotten folder on your computer.
It may seem like this goes without saying, but too many businesses have good intentions when they create their business strategy only to set it aside and never revisit it.
I see this more often than not. I was coaching a new team member and since I hadn’t heard from her for a couple of weeks, I decided to check in on her. It turns out the business strategy that we worked with was set aside. Even though, she had great intentions, she got distracted and never got back to it until I called her on it.
It’s easy to get caught up in the daily challenges/problems, but this is exactly why we have to come back to the strategy/ game plan if we want to see sustainable results and ongoing growth.
Don’t become one of these businesses. Create a strategic business plan that will lead to success and then follow through by implementing it.
Share your Plan and Delegate Responsibilities
After you have finalized your plan, share it with your team. Make sure everyone knows what your goals are and how you plan to meet them. Each team member should understand your business strategy and how he or she fits into the big picture.
In many cases, there will be parts of your plan you want to keep confidential, like profit statistics and sales histories. This okay, and you can share only the parts of your plan that others need to know and keep confidential portions for managers.
Work your Strategy into your Day-to-Day Processes
When everyone is aware of how they contribute to your strategy, you need to find ways to work it into your day-to-day processes. You need to add new processes, change the way you do things and add tasks to your daily routines to make your strategy happen.
Putting your strategy into action starts with simple, daily steps. Find ways to mesh your strategy with your daily activities to get things started and help your team members start fulfilling their responsibilities.
Revisit your Strategy Often and Measure your Success
But, even once you have started executing your plans, you still can’t set your strategy aside. You need to revisit it often to see how well you are implementing it and whether you are on track to meet your goals.
The easiest way to do this is to schedule a regular meeting, either weekly or monthly, where team members can report on how they are implementing the plan. You should also create some way to track your efforts and measure your success. Use charts or spreadsheets to monitor your progress so you can see how things are unfolding and whether you are on track to meet your goals.
Hold Each other Accountable
These regular meetings are also the perfect time to hold each other accountable. Having to report on progress and getting the chance to sit down and see your progress in the past few months, with your monitoring systems, is a natural way to keep everyone on their toes. People will feel the need to progress and share their efforts, which makes them more likely to strive for success.
It’s also important to celebrate your successes, so as you implement your strategy and see results, find ways to congratulate employees and celebrate as a team. A simple recognition in a team meeting or company newsletter can work for individual successes and things like a team retreat or catered lunch are perfect for keeping teams motivated and building unity.
Be Flexible, but not too Flexible
In my experience as a business coach, I’ve seen how business strategies evolve over time. This isn’t to say that they constantly change, but they do change slightly as businesses grow, develop new areas, add team members and change their focus to different services.
Your strategy may also change as you discover what is working for your business and what doesn’t seem to be working. One of the reasons it’s so important to track your efforts and successes is to find ways you can focus your efforts for optimal results.
Don’t change your strategy without a good reason, but if you find that there are ways you can enhance your strategy or that some areas aren’t working well for you, don’t be afraid to make a few changes.
It’s not enough to just create a business strategy. You need to revisit it often and use it in your day-to-day work to see results. If you would like help creating a business plan or finding ways to implement your existing plan, contact me.
About the author
