I met with a start-up CEO the other day, and she asked if I had a good way to go from strategy to action to hold people accountable. She had used some methods in the past but felt that they weren’t working as well as she would like, so she wanted to explore a different approach.
I offered the STRATEGIC PLANNING outline (below) that we encourage “heads of” to use. It’s applicable for any level, really, but we typically offer it to CEOs of small/medium businesses (SMBs) and VPs in large companies.
It’s your job as a SMB CEO to nail the “WHAT” – the guardrails from which the rest of the organization implements the “HOW.” This Strategic Planning document has five solid questions that break down to quarterly outputs:
- MISSION – what is your organization’s purpose?
- VISION—What is your organization striving for (blue sky) in the next 2-year period?
- STRATEGIES—What are three primary strategies to tackle in the next year to make progress toward the 2-year goal?
- INITIATIVES—What projects will make those strategies come alive each quarter?
- ACTIONS/OWNERS—What actions are needed for each initiative and who owns what?
Numbers 4 and 5 form an ongoing Dashboard to track movement and accomplishments (which, therefore, lends itself to accountability).
Simple enough process, yes, and not rocket science. My guess is you already use some form of the above. I like this process because it’s super streamlined, so I often recommend it. But here’s the catch. No matter what process or planning document you use, there is the “secret sauce” to consider:
- PERSON-IN-CHARGE—Have someone in charge of the dashboard who has authority. I recommend at least a senior director level. Let this incredibly obsessive person choose their title: senior director of Ops, Projects, Processes, Progress, or Effectiveness. I personally like “senior director of progress”; it has a nice ring to it.
- COACHING SKILLS—Be sure this person is a good coach, not just a good analytics person. Yes, these balanced people are hard to find. Attentive coaching is important; otherwise, this senior director could be seen only as the taskmaster. A good coach will work with each team member to problem-solve and recognize good progress, not just faults.
