Strategic planning is essential to every organisation, regardless of its size and the industry it is in. If you are looking to grow your business, having a well-researched, feasible, and solid strategy can rally your business towards success and expansion in the long run.
However, executives and managers commonly miss one essential factor when it comes to strategic planning: Organisational alignment. No matter how remarkable or impressive your plans are, if they are not cohesive and do not bring you closer to your business goals, they’re counterproductive and will only put you at great risk of execution failure.
Alignment is essential in strategic planning because it ensures that every team from the executives down to the front line employees is moving in the same direction towards the same goal. In the end, this helps everyone see what they need to achieve and where they should focus their time and efforts to achieve it.
If you want to create well-aligned organisational plans and avoid going back to the drawing board, here are three steps for you to consider:
1. Consider the hierarchy
A common mistake that many executives and managers commit when it comes to planning is taking a look at the bigger picture only through a linear and unidirectional way. They graphically represent processes and activities using a straight horizontal line that shows them the different phases that the organisation has to go through.
While this is not an entirely wrong way to approach planning, the smarter way is to see everything in a tree-like view, starting from the top management going down and considering every person in each level involved. In doing so, you will be able to plan how to permeate the tactics to the teams and set Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) for them that also contribute towards your organisational goals.
2. Categorise your projects
If you have various projects that you are launching, it’s essential to implement a sense of organisation and utilise tags to properly label them, identify their purpose, and evaluate them later on. The tags and categories will help you discuss these projects individually, segment your data and assessment accordingly, and adjust the execution if necessary.
Managing multiple projects can eventually be overwhelming and confusing. By having tags, however, they help ensure that only the necessary items are being carried out, and the other non-effective initiatives are reevaluated so that your resources won’t go to waste.
3. Observe the bigger picture
Utilising tags and categories can help you take a look at your projects individually. After assessing them on their own, you should always go back to the bigger picture and see how these pieces fit together.
Take a look at your projects and initiatives side by side to make sure that each phase flows smoothly, and that there are no wasted or misplaced resources in between. Ultimately, it helps you check for organisational alignment: if your plans are indeed aligned with each other and if they are moving the needle in the same direction.
Conclusion
Achieving organisational alignment is indeed a daunting task for executives and managers, but it is essential in making your business succeed and keeping your team engaged. Keep the tips we shared above as you conduct your next strategic planning to help you get started on the right track and truly engage your employees in all levels to aim for one goal.
We are a Melbourne-based consultancy that helps companies in the country achieve successful organisational alignment. Get in touch with us today to get the strategic agility you need to grow your business!