1. Who Hit the Target? Making Strategy Everyone’s Business
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8. Whoever hit the target... Understood the strategy Translated strategy into operational terms Communicated it to all levels Aligned work activities Made strategy everyone’s business
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Hinweis der Redaktion
Make strategy everyone’s business Top management often feel uncomfortable with the notion of sharing their business strategy with everyone in the organisation. They may be reluctant to communicate strategic plans to all levels in case they “give the game away” to the competition. But there are ways to let everyone know the direction you want to go in without revealing all your secrets. Anyway, the real secret is not the strategy but the internal leadership and internal processes that result in a successful implementation. Convert intangible assets into tangible outcomes Intangible assets don’t appear on the balance sheet but they are equally as valuable as the traditional hard assets such as plant, machinery, buildings and land. Intangible assets include the knowledge, experience and competencies embedded in the people, systems and processes of the organisation. Real competitive advantage can be gained by releasing the full potential of these assets.
One of the main principals that guides the design and development of our programmes is to treat the workplace as a learning place. There is a wealth of knowledge and experience available to us everyday - we just need to make better use of it. Traditional approaches give a lot of information in a short space of time at a venue that is away from the workplace. We believe it is more effective to give smaller chunks of information over a longer period of time without leaving the workplace.
Constructivist learning methodology is a well known teaching technique that encourages the learner to make use of their existing knowledge and skills as a basis for personal growth and development. By using this method we give priority to the learner’s own knowledge and experience rather than the contents of a manual.
We are often asked to provide training to meet specific needs that have been identified, for example customer service. In these cases it is tempting to just “plug-in” a training programme in the hope that it will solve a particular problem or close an identified skills gap. But Our experience has shown that training initiatives rarely succeed unless they are part of an overall strategy and are linked to business objectives. Successful implementation of strategy requires an organisation wide effort. Which leads us to the Goldfish story….
The final product that is produced through this phase of the programme (a magazine) represents a description of the ideal situation or how the vision could be realised. This process of describing the strategy and how it can be achieved creates common understanding of where the organisation is headed and how everyone can contribute to its success.
Activities are designed to reveal how well the strategy is understood at all levels, how well it has been communicated, and to what extent individual work activities are supporting the strategy.
Investigations and activities encourage members to use the workplace as a learning place and gather and interpret real life data. Through this process agreement is reached on the measures that truly indicate progress towards achieving strategic outcomes.
Whilst the overall approach is light-hearted and fun, the measurements are real. The outcomes of activities are scored and ultimately determine “Who hit the target?” Substantial prizes should be offered to make the goal worth reaching.