6 Ways to Boost Alignment and Improve Strategy Execution

Developing an efficient and innovative new strategy can be challenging, but not nearly as challenging as aligning people in an organization to successfully execute that strategy, according to a recent Harvard Business Review article. Summarized below are six steps to help your leadership team boost alignment and create focus around the ?highest-impact actions that will drive the organization?s most important outcomes.?

1. Define the one most important outcome. Identifying the most important thing your team hopes to accomplish in the next 12 months will help clarify your next steps.

2. Distinguish the most essential people. Your strategy may require a team effort, but it?s also crucial to recognize whose job is most essential to achieving the organization?s goal. Doing so will help focus leaders? efforts and resources.

3. Have key players pinpoint their primary contribution. Similar to how your team should identify one outcome, your key people should identify their one pivotal strength related to the strategy and their one key contribution. Simplicity is a must when it comes to maintaining momentum.

4. Conduct coaching sessions. Leaders should have ?laser-focused, 30-minute one-on-one coaching sessions? to ensure headway is being made and progress is on track.

5. Gather and report data. Coaching sessions give leaders the chance to collect data on trends and organizational obstacles team members are facing. Sharing data with the previously identified key people can help drive priorities forward.

6. Enhance performance. Have the key contributors fill out surveys on how the organization?s key strategy is progressing and whether they feel the 30-minute coaching sessions are valuable or effective. This information can help leaders improve their strategy execution.

?Adapted from ?Execution Is a People Problem, Not a Strategy Problem,? by Peter Bregman, Harvard Business Review, Jan. 4, 2017.