Entrepreneurs spend time, money, and resources to come up with business strategies. But much of this effort goes to waste because entrepreneurs often fail to execute on their business strategies. The main obstacle: Managers typically lack the framework or methods to set up a process for execution of their business strategy.
Let’s explore how to execute your startup’s business strategy.
Key Takeaways
- Most strategists believe they don’t have the tools to carry out growth initiatives
- Entrepreneurs must prioritize the tasks supporting the strategy and then assign people to carry out the tasks
- Your team must establish a master schedule that monitors tasks and sets accountability checkpoints
How Should You Execute Your Business Strategy?
Many business strategies gather dust and never make it to the execution stage. According to research and consulting firm Gartner, 80% of business strategists believe they lack the tools and skills to carry out growth initiatives, while 70% have little confidence in their problem-solving abilities.
Worst yet, 61% of business strategists “say poor strategy execution is the primary reason that new growth initiatives fail,” says Marc Kelly, a vice president at Gartner. “It’s more of a problem than the strategy itself or the funding of that strategy, and it stems from a range of issues.”
Business strategies must be actionable to be effective. So what do you need to do to go from plan to action? Consider these tips:
1. Prioritize Tasks
Once you’ve mapped out a business strategy, prioritize the tasks needed to accomplish the strategy. You can prioritize tasks in a number of ways, such as attaching them to items like impact on strategy, value to organization, available resources, and ease of completion. Then, you might rank the key factors and start with the tasks earning the highest scores.
Rank tasks based on these factors:
- Feasibility: What value does this deliver? What impact will it have?
- Strategic fit: What resources do you have for the task? Is the task aligned with your goals?
- Risk: What is the likelihood of going over time or over budget? How difficult is the task?
Remember that some tasks must be performed chronologically. After all, you must pour a foundation for a house before building the roof.
2. Assign Accountability or Ownership
A task won’t be checked off your list unless someone is responsible for it. So, you must assign accountability or ownership to each task. Accountability applies to the person performing the task and the person managing it.
When assigning a task’s accountability or ownership:
- Clearly define a person’s responsibilities for each task.
- Ensure that everyone knows what to do and who to report to in case challenges arise.
- Provide checkpoints and deadlines for reporting on progress.
- Explain the consequences of accountability, such as what happens if failure occurs.
However you assign accountability or ownership, be sure to effectively communicate. Why? Because 61% of employees don’t understand their roles in growth initiatives, according to Gartner.
“Lack of buy-in only reduces employee commitment and motivation for action, and messages that lack credibility increase organizational resistance to change,” Gartner advises. “Foster a two-way dialogue about the strategy to ensure organizational buy-in with a cohesive communication strategy.”
3. Set a Master Schedule
Develop a master schedule that details the checkpoints, deadlines, duties, and accountable people.
One person should be responsible for managing and updating the schedule, and should enable others to view the schedule so that everyone can stay on track. Individuals and teams should maintain their own schedules that are tied to the master schedule.
If the master schedule changes, the person who handles the schedule should notify everyone about the key alterations and provide an updated master schedule. Stakeholders should regularly review the master schedule to stay on top of changes and deadlines.
Why is a master schedule so important?
“Creating a master schedule is a great way of preventing project chaos. Research shows that projects with a master schedule are more likely to finish on time and within budget,” says ClickUp, which offers a productivity platform.
4. Apply Activities Over a Timeline
Some tasks occur within a short timeframe, such as signing a contract or holding a quarterly meeting. Other tasks take place over an extended period of time, like developing or testing a product. The schedule’s timeline should show start and end dates, people involved, resources required, and other key information.
Generally, a strategy timeline involves these five steps:
- Initiation
- Planning
- Execution
- Monitoring
- Evaluation
5. Set Accountability Checkpoints
Many activities with extended timelines can become bogged down or delayed. Allowing tasks to go unchecked for long periods can throw off the entire schedule and disrupt the launch of a strategy.
Set accountability checkpoints regarding how different tasks are progressing, what challenges or bottlenecks have been identified, and what support or resources are needed. The master schedule should be updated when tweaks are made.
Schedule accountability checkpoints once a quarter to track major activities. Assign shorter-term accountability checkpoints for individual tasks depending on the timelines and complexity.
“Even the most well-thought-out strategy can fail without clear responsibility and accountability for execution decisions and actions. Organizational cultures that say ‘everyone is accountable’ often have ambiguous roles and responsibilities —
and when things go wrong, it’s too easy to blame it on someone else,” according to the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
“You can avoid that trap by using an explicit, structured process for role negotiation and responsibility plotting before strategy execution begins (or use it to get a project that’s floundering back on track).”
6. Ask for Help
Factors beyond your control — or that you thought were under your control — can interrupt activities and disrupt your business strategy. People responsible for certain tasks should ask for help when issues escalate beyond their control and before missing a deadline. If needed, team leaders should seek help from external or outside experts to keep the strategy on track.
Always ask for help before a situation becomes too complicated or before key deadlines are missed.
“Startups are resource-hungry machines, and founders who are afraid to ask for funding, partnerships, or advice often find themselves stuck,” says business advisor and author Barry O’Reilly.
Executing Your Startup’s Business Strategy
Every startup should develop a business strategy to help reach its goals. Planning is just one part of the equation, though. The key to success is executing the strategy.
Don’t overlook the importance of business strategy. Taking time to prioritize tasks, assign ownership, and track progress can help achieve your startup goals — and achieve growth.
Need help with developing or executing your business strategy? Contact us today.