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Implementing strategy has always been a challenge for organizations across the industry. Ability to implement strategy is the deciding factor between success and failure of a company’s strategy. Implementation manifests the strategic intent of a company through various tactical and competitive actions to achieve the desired results, which otherwise may remain as distant dreams.

How does a company gain the all important ability to put strategic plans into action? The answer is to change ones’ perception of strategy formulation and implementation. Contrary to general belief, strategy formulation and strategy implementation are not two discrete processes but are intertwined together. Great strategies are not discovered over a couple of strategic sessions. In fact great strategies evolve over time as a result of rigorous monitoring of progress towards strategic goals, when emerging realities are discussed thread bare, the learning of which helps in revising the strategies. In effect, it can be said that meticulous implementation has strategy development embedded in it. Similarly companies need to incorporate strategy implementation in the planning phase itself. This can be done by involving persons key to execution during planning phase itself. It will not only help in gaining insights in to practical aspects of strategy at an early stage, but it also helps politically to get their whole hearted commitment to strategy implementation. Planning is no doubt important, but making the plan work is a bigger challenge which deals with organizational politics, culture and sometimes managing change. All of which require single minded pursuit from top and unquestionable commitment from managers. Organizational politics (especially when strategy execution contradicts the existing power structure in the company) may hamper proper allotment of resources, which will adversely impact strategy deployment.

Apart from intertwining strategy planning and implementation through incorporating execution into planning and evolving strategy through rigorous follow up and corrections, there are other factors that may bridge the gap between great strategies and effective execution. First of these factors is communication. Many a times we find that managers who are supposed to be delivering performance to meet the strategic goals of the company do not have a clear idea of what the strategy is all about. They do not realize what needs to be done to fulfill the strategic plan. They are unaware of their role in the strategic game plan. They can not describe company’s strategy in one simple sentence, which means that the strategy is not understood by the people responsible for acting on it. Great strategic plans or intents are represented by a catchy tag line, which coveys the company’s intentions to all concerned, even to marketplace. Lack of proper understanding of what is important for the strategy to be delivered, may result in having your priorities wrong – and the projected levels of returns will never be a reality.

Strategy implementation is a long drawn out process, and so in order to sustain the interest and enthusiasm of managers and leaders alike it is absolutely essential that strategic plans have short term wins built in them. These milestones not only specify standards of performance but help in keeping managers focused on the results.

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