As a business owner, the process of designing and implementing your company's strategic plan can be a defining moment in your entrepreneurial journey. However, it’s critical to acknowledge that these plans could bring valuable changes to your enterprise and that failure to implement them is costly.
A Gartner report showed that about 9 out of every 10 organisations fail to fully execute their business strategies and that implementation of the strategic plan is the main culprit. Therefore, this article will provide insight on the common mistakes businesses make when implementing strategic plans and offer solutions that business owners can adopt.
One of the biggest strategic planning mistakes that a business owner could make is the lack of involvement of their stakeholders. It’s essential to engage all employees, partners, shareholders, customers, and other essential stakeholders in the planning process. Stakeholders can provide insights that can increase the accuracy and efficacy of the strategic plan while checking that all messaging is consistent across the company.
To address inadequate stakeholder engagement mistakes, businesses should:
- Involve managers and team members from the beginning of the planning process.
- Communicate the benefits of the strategic plan’s execution to stakeholders regularly.
- Encourage a collaborative environment that can maintain engagement and buy-in throughout the implementation phase.
Some business owners believe that careful planning is enough, but this isn't the case. Excessive planning can lead to delays that could prevent the implementation of the strategic plan. This mistake often results in the team feeling that this is a never-ending process.
Here are some steps business owners can take to avoid excessive planning:
- Set a realistic timeframe for the planning stage.
- Stick to a predefined framework and keep your plan simple.
- Focus on achieving strategic goals instead of perfection in planning.
One major mistake businesses often make in implementing strategic plans is the lack of leadership. As a business owner, you are responsible for providing the required leadership to your team to achieve your company's strategic goals.
To avoid mistakes like this, business owners should:
- Set clear goals and achievable milestones.
- Foster a culture of accountability by outlining the consequences of not accomplishing goals.
- Continuously communicate the company’s critical strategy.
A strategic plan should be adaptable to new situations. However, a recurring mistake amongst business owners is sticking too rigidly to their strategic plan without considering changes in the market. This can cause businesses to miss out on opportunities or fail to address problems as they arise.
Business owners can avoid rigid plans by:
- Carrying out thorough assessments concerning which strategic goals are affected by the new situation.
- Analysing the entire strategic plan regularly to identify potential gaps and adjust accordingly.
- Encouraging team learning and flexibility through cross-functional collaboration.
A final mistake commonly made by business owners is a failure to keep track of their strategic plan's progress. Failing to track accomplishes objectives ultimately leads to an inability to adjust the plan, continually pursue established targets, and even achieve them.
To avoid this challenge, business owners should:
- Assign KPIs and metrics to each goal.
- Establish a robust progress tracking system and include progress review points in company meetings.
- Recalculate to set new progress benchmarks if necessary.
Business owners should prioritise proper strategic planning and management to avoid the mistakes mentioned above. Ultimately, it's essential to engage stakeholders in goal setting, achieve practical plans, establish achievable milestones, foster innovation and transparency, and track progress over time. Taking this approach can increase the chances of executing the strategic plan successfully and ultimately achieving success as a business owner.
