Implementing Strategy
Once the board approves a strategy, managers need to know which work starts first, who can commit the resources and which decisions belong with the steering group. A market expansion illustrates how Zenith organises delivery.
Turn the approved strategy into a program of work
A business entering a new market may need to develop a product range and a route to market at the same time. The sponsor needs to know which tasks can run in parallel and which depend on an earlier decision. The report groups this work into planning, team structure, and process and tools.
- Planning
- Split the work into initiatives that can run in parallel. Assess the market, develop the value proposition and plan the expansion. Give each initiative its own milestones and resources.
- Team structure
- Give each initiative a sponsor and a team with time to do the work. Bring the sponsors together in a CEO-led steering group to resolve issues that cross functions.
- Process and tools
- Ask initiative leads to track progress against their plans. A single status report shows the steering group which delays need a decision and which teams need help.
Market entry and product expansion
- Diagnostic
- Value proposition
- Market expansion
What each initiative lead needs before work starts
Ask the lead to describe the result, the people who will deliver it and the assumptions behind the expected benefit. A sponsor can then assess the resources against the rest of the program and agree when progress will come back for review.
- Objectives
- A short summary of what the initiative is for, in language the rest of the business would recognise.
- Sponsor
- A senior executive who makes sure the work happens, contributes expertise, and clears the obstacles.
- Workplan
- High-level tasks and milestones, at a level that can be tracked through delivery.
- Resources
- Named people, chosen against the time they can give it alongside their current workload.
- Financials and KPIs
- The benefits expected, the assumptions under them, and measures that make progress visible.
Give the steering group the decisions it needs to make
The program office brings the leads’ updates into a single report. The meeting can then concentrate on exceptions. In the guide’s week-four example, a delayed customer survey needs a revised date. A separate mystery shopping exercise is late, but its lead still expects to meet the completion date. Those situations call for different decisions.
- Start the cycle together
- The project management office meets with the workstream leads and sponsor to agree the work ahead.
- Set out what is due
- Each initiative tracker lists the tasks and deliverables due in the next two reporting cycles.
- Update each initiative
- Workstream leads record progress, upcoming tasks and anything that threatens delivery.
- Bring exceptions to the steering group
- The project management office consolidates the updates. The group can see which delays need a decision and where help is needed across functions.
