How many times have you heard the words strategy or strategy execution in your workplace? I guess that you’ve heard these words more than enough. One thing is planning the whole strategy process and then another thing is to execute it successfully.

So why are still so many strategies failing? What can be done to lower this number and ensure that your next strategy will work according to the plan?

I’m going to focus on the 3 of the most common reasons why your corporate strategy execution program may fail and what can be done to prevent this from happening.

Reasons why your corporate strategy execution program isn’t working

Let’s now focus on the 3 main reasons why your corporate strategy execution program doesn’t succeed. They may be simple but effective and can change the whole direction of how your strategy will end up.

1. Unclear objectives and/or priorities

One of the reasons your corporate strategy execution program will not succeed is when your objectives aren’t clear and you don’t know which ones to prioritize. This is the thing that makes the real difference and can define whether the plan will be a success or a failure.

When it’s not clear what objectives need to be realized and when then there’s little to no chance that the strategy will work. When it’s unclear which objectives are a priority then it can lead to a lot of confusion and feelings of being overwhelmed.

2. Lack of buy-in

To execute your corporate strategy program successfully, you need to have a team of people determined to do it. This may sound obvious, but it’s vital to have a team of people who know what to do, and when to do it and are reliable, and supportive.

All parts of the strategy program need to be allocated among the team and it has to be clear who is responsible for what. Another important point is to have specific and realistic deadlines and people who take accountability for their responsibilities. This part is vital because often one’s responsibility has an impact on another team member’s task.

One of the most important aspects of having a reliable and responsible team is trusting each other. This goes both ways - you should be able to trust others and others should be able to trust you. For this to be able to happen, transparency has to be one of the core aspects of every communication channel.

Successful transparency means being able to have open and effective communication. Everyone needs to be updated on the latest information and no one should be left behind. This way everyone can be in the same boat and it’s easier to communicate as a team because everyone understands what’s going on.

Another point that adds to effective communication is doing regular check-ups. This can be done through a series of feedback sessions and reporting. Through frequent feedback, one can strengthen their relationships with others and improve the effectiveness of their collaboration.

3. No execution

Ineffective communication

The third reason why your corporate strategy program isn’t working is that you plan your strategy in detail but when it comes to its execution there are a lot of problems. One of the most important aspects of any execution is clear and effective communication. Without this, it’s hard to cooperate with others because there may be a lot of misunderstandings that can lead to conflicts later on in the process. If these problems continue to happen, then it can even hurt the relationship among your team workers in a long term.

Lack of leadership and commitment

Another killer of successful execution of a strategy is a lack of leadership and a lack of commitment coming from the management. You as the leader of your workers should be a good example of how things should be done. That’s why it’s important to be committed to the strategy and to the people you’re working with.

Being adaptable and ready for changes

Like anything else also the execution of strategies doesn’t always go according to plan. Even if you have a great one. Simply said, reality sometimes turns out differently and so it’s important to be accountable for your responsibilities even when something goes wrong.

Do these 3 things to successfully your corporate strategy execution program

Now that you know three of the most common reasons that negatively impact the success of your corporate strategy execution let’s get to the part on how to prevent this from happening.

1. Solving the problem of unclear objectives and/or priorities

Prioritization of tasks and actions is one of the most important aspects of a corporate strategy execution program. Strategies are complex projects revolving around a lot of different tasks so it’s crucial to have a system for prioritizing them.

Like in other processes, also here is important to be able to communicate openly and effectively as well as make sure that everyone understands what are their tasks and responsibilities. When this initial part is successful then it will prevent many uncertainties in the further stages.

After this step is completed then it’s time to plan out the whole process in detail and to allocate various tasks among all the people involved in the strategy execution. Not only that but it’s also important to prioritize the tasks and to put them in specific places on the timeline. This way everyone can see their importance in terms of urgency. The deadlines for the tasks should be of course specific and realistic.

Once everyone is aware of what they and their teammates are doing it is time to start the whole process.

2. Fixing the no buy-in issue

Surely one of the most important aspects of successful strategy execution is to have the people to help you achieve it. As mentioned above, the art of effective communication can solve a lot of issues or even prevent them from happening at all.

Another way how to have a team of dedicated loyal and supportive people is to always appreciate their efforts and express your gratefulness for their participation. Even a small gesture can lead to eventually strengthening your work relationship.

To strengthen the relationship even more try to be open and honest about what’s going on and if there’s any space for improvement. This can be done by regular checkups with others and constructive feedback sessions. it’s always better to communicate what’s going on and to be direct about what’s bothering you but of course to express it politely. This can then lead to improved retention of your employees.

3. Turning a problematic execution into a successful one

One of the crucial parts of the successful execution of your planned strategy is to lead by example. This means that you believe in the strategy and will do anything to help its execution like making sure everyone in the team has the tools to help its execution and is fully supported by others. You as a leader should have an overview of all the processes happening and be able to react according to the changes in the plan.

Another important thing is to know the people you’re working with. This way you can have the right people in the right places. Let’s say you know which people are good at reporting and which ones are creative and can be a strong asset in the brainstorming and creation stages of the plan execution so you put them into this stage. It’ll be a win-win situation because they’ll be able to thrive in what they’re doing and for you, it will make the leading process easier and more pleasurable.

Conclusion

There are certainly several reasons that greatly impact the outcome of your plan execution, but there are also ways how to overcome these obstacles. So what are you going to do differently about your next corporate strategy execution program?