Implementation is the process that turns strategies and plans into actions to accomplish strategic objectives and goals. Implementing your strategic plan is vital and is as essential, or even more important, than your strategy. 

Critical actions move a strategic plan from a document that sits on the shelf to activities that drive business growth. Sadly, the majority of companies who have strategic plans fail to implement them.

According to Fortune Magazine, nine out of ten organizations fail to achieve their strategic plan for many reasons:

• 60% of organizations don’t link strategy to budgeting
• 75% of organizations don’t link employee incentives to policy
• 86% of business owners and managers spend less than one hour per month discussing strategy

• 95% of the typical workforce doesn’t understand their organization’s strategy.

A strategic plan provides a business with the roadmap it needs to pursue a specific strategic direction and set of performance goals, deliver customer value, and be successful. However, this is just a plan; it doesn’t guarantee that the desired performance is reached any more than having a roadmap guarantees the traveller arrives at the desired destination. Interestingly, a goal without a plan, I call nothing more than a wish.

Getting Your Strategy Ready for Implementation

For those businesses that have a plan in place, wasting time and energy on the planning process and then not implementing the idea is very discouraging. Although the topic of implementation may not be the most exciting thing to talk about, it’s a fundamental business practice that’s critical for any strategy to take hold.

The strategic plan addresses the what and why of activities, but implementation addresses the who, where, when, and how. The fact is that both pieces are critical to success. Companies can gain a competitive advantage through implementation if done effectively. In the following sections, you’ll discover how to get support for your complete implementation plan and how to avoid some common mistakes.

Avoiding the Implementation Pitfalls

Because you want your plan to succeed, heed the advice here and stay away from the pitfalls of implementing your strategic plan. 

Here are the most common reasons strategic plans fail:

• Lack of ownership: The most common reason a plan fails is lack of ownership. If people don’t have a stake and responsibility in the program, it’ll be business as usual for all but a frustrated few.
• Lack of communication: The plan doesn’t get communicated to employees, and they don’t understand how they contribute.

• Getting mired in the day-to-day: Owners and managers, consumed by daily operating problems, lose sight of long-term goals. 
• Out of the ordinary: The plan is treated as something separate and removed from the management process.

• An overwhelming plan: The goals and actions generated in the strategic planning session are too numerous because the team failed to make tough choices to eliminate non-critical steps. Employees don’t know where to begin.

• A meaningless plan: The vision, mission, and value statements are viewed as fluff and not supported by actions or don’t have employee buy-in.
• Annual strategy: Strategy is only discussed at yearly weekend retreats. 
• Not considering implementation: Implementation isn’t discussed in the strategic planning process. The planning document is seen as an end in itself.
• No progress report: There’s no method to track progress, and the plan only measures what’s easy, not what’s important. No one feels any forward momentum.

• No accountability: Accountability and high visibility help drive change. This means that each measure, objective, data source, and initiative must have an owner.
• Lack of empowerment: Although accountability may provide strong motivation for improving performance, employees must also have the authority, responsibility, and tools necessary to impact relevant measures. Otherwise, they may resist involvement and ownership. 

It’s easier to avoid pitfalls when they’re identified. Now that you know what they are, you’re more likely to jump right over them!