What is strategy execution software?
There are many forms of strategy execution software, but at their heart, good strategy execution products are focused on ensuring their users can deliver their objectives faster and more effectively. In doing so, they aim to improve both top and bottom-line business performance by focussing effort on the right activities and reducing (or ideally removing) wasted effort.
The very best products both align your objectives to new and existing delivery activities and identify gaps between leadership team expectations of outcomes and delivery reality - both at planning time and during delivery. This helps to ensure that the activities and delivery plans you are already or planning to invest in can really meet the objectives of the organisation, long before any significant damage is done.
Strategy execution software journey
A common first reaction from new clients when demonstrating strategy execution software for the first time is that they aren't yet mature enough to get the best from the software, even though they can see its clear potential and power.
Experience shows that organisations even starting to develop capability in strategic alignment planning can still get great benefits from strategy execution software by taking an iterative approach to improvement. Focusing on a few key areas that can provide the biggest benefit is a good way to start and can have a powerful impact.
See StrategyWorks in action
Book a demo with a product specialist and see how it can transform your strategy execution.
Five tips for getting the most from strategy execution software
Focus on strategic change that will have the biggest impact
Many customers already know the areas that are affecting their ability to execute their strategy well - an inability to align delivery activities to the strategy, a lack of accountability or ownership, or failure to properly map and track benefits of projects to strategic objectives. Select one or two areas that will have the biggest change impact and select a product that enables you to start modestly. Don't try to solve everything in one go.
Take an objectives-first view of execution
Starting with the end in mind is a great place to begin your journey. Ensure there is absolute clarity on the objectives you are trying to achieve and how you intend to measure their performance. It is common to find differences of opinion at senior levels about what the objectives are and how they will be measured. Once the objectives have been written down and agreed, then assess how well the delivery portfolio actually supports them. The best way is to assess the benefits of each initiative, programme, or project and marry the planned benefits to the objectives - identifying gaps where delivery projects don't clearly support objectives.
Plan process improvement
Software alone is rarely enough to change business practices for the better. Lasting change involves people, process, and technology. Focus on the key individuals and processes where modest changes using strategy execution software will bring the biggest benefit. When changing processes, assign someone influential as the change leader who is enthusiastic and motivated in ensuring the new process and ways of working take hold.
Drive strategic change from the top
Driving the use of strategy execution software from the leadership team is a compelling way of driving behaviour through the organisation. Effective strategy execution software should bring about such a powerful and common-sense approach to planning that once one part of the organisation is using it, it naturally starts to drive adoption more widely. It always helps to have a real-world example where the software and process is working well and driving meaningful change.
Trust the data
Once the data is up to date and the software is being used to plan, monitor, and execute the strategy, one of the most important tips is to use the product consistently and trust the data. It is very easy for project and programme managers to try to overrule software by thinking they know best and fall back into old ways of working. The benefits of becoming a truly data-driven organisation are huge. This means letting go and trusting what the products and data are telling you. This requires a mindset shift - one of the hardest aspects to change - but over time it should become second nature.
Ready to start your StrategyWorks journey?
Book a demo with a product specialist to see it in action.