A third problem is a lack of a framework and consistent language and definitions. When one person uses the term targets and another person talks about goals, are they talking about the same thing? This often leads to confusion and vagueness, resulting in misalignment.
A solution to these three problems is a One Page Strategic Plan (OPSP). Verne Harnish, speaker, trainer and CEO of Scaling Up, formally Gazelles, which I was trained by, first introduced the One Page Strategic Plan format in his popular book Mastering the Rockefeller Habits. The One Page Strategic Plan is just that, one page. It includes brief statements capturing the company’s philosophy (eg. values, purpose, vision), strategy, 3 year plan, as well as 1 year and quarterly plans, including specific numerical targets and priorities for change and improvement. Each component of the OPSP has consistent language and clear definitions. It’s reviewed and updated at least quarterly to make adjustments and add the next quarter’s 90-day plan. Having the plan all on one page means it’s quick and easy to review, reference and update. Its brevity forces executive teams to get really clear and aligned about each of their decisions. While the full one page strategic plan is used for the company plan, which the CEO should ultimately own, certain parts of the one page strategic plan can be used by each leader to create a plan for their own area that supports the company plan. For example, what targets is Marketing shooting for next year, and what improvements will they make, to support the company’s goal of increasing revenue by 20%? 2. Annual and Quarterly Planning So how can an executive team work together to come up with a one page plan that they are all aligned on? A disciplined rhythm of executive team annual and quarterly planning has become the standard for the best small to mid-size companies. This rhythm ensures that an executive team adjusts its competitive strategy annually and agrees on its goals and top priorities for the coming year, while also breaking down the execution of the annual plan into more specific and manageable quarterly plans. The quarterly planning approach also gives the team the flexibility to adjust their plans as they learn through action what works and what doesn’t. It also allows them to adjust course as the market and organization evolves. An annual and quarterly planning rhythm is made a lot easier to organize and run when you have a seasoned executive team coach. 3. Individual Roles and Expectations It’s one thing to come up with a plan that the executive team is all aligned on. It’s another to be aligned on how they are going to make that plan happen. Who will do what depends on what each leader’s role is. All too often role disconnects or confusion create misalignment around who should tackle what part of the company plan. The greater misalignment comes in how each leader runs their own area. When leaders on an executive team aren’t all on the same page about their respective roles and accountabilities, there can be duplication of effort, mixed-messages to the organization, leaders being stretched thin, and/or critical work not getting done. As well, if leaders aren’t clear on what’s expected of them and their peers, standards and targets may not be met by certain areas, which can then affect other areas’ ability to deliver. Furthermore, when expectations about leadership and management practices aren’t clear and aligned across the executive team, it creates misalignment across the organization as a whole. Their team members will have widely varying experiences as employees. The level of understanding of goals and priorities for the company and different areas will result in teams working at cross-purposes with each other, if not out-right competing. The solution has three parts: clarifying roles, results and expectations. a) Clarify what executive team level functions are needed in the company and which executive team leader will be accountable for each. We use what’s called a Functional Accountability Chart exercise - or FACe - to clear this up. b) Define visually what each function is accountable to produce and what other function or functions they produce it for. This creates what we call a Key Function Flow Map (KFFM), which shows how business comes into the company and flows from one function to the next until money shows up in the bank account. This gets the executive team aligned around how they need to work with each other to achieve results for the company overall. c) Each leader on the executive team creates their own job scorecard, based on the function(s) they are accountable for and the results they produce in the flow of work (KFFM). It includes the purpose of their function, the results, metrics and targets they are to achieve, their responsibilities and authority, and the competencies they need to be successful. We covered the job scorecard in a previous article. Once complete, it’s important that the executive team review their Functional Accountability Chart and Key Function Flow Map at least once a year, if not more often, to identify any shifts in roles that are needed as the company evolves and grows. As well, any material changes to any job scorecards should be shared with the whole team for awareness. More significant changes may warrant discussing them as a team before finalizing them. 4. Efficient Executive Team Buy-in Rather than a CEO coming up with the plan and each leader’s role(s), and simply delegating activities to team members, they need to shift to making decisions for the company in collaboration with the members of their executive team. This will enable them and their team members to make decisions they’re all committed to. This doesn’t mean the CEO doesn’t get the final say. It’s how they get to a final decision that needs to be adjusted. Patrick Lencioni, in his best-selling book, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, called this approach “disagree and commit”.
If you are a prairie CEO who wants to grow a thriving company, team and life more quickly, more easily and with less stress and headache, please contact me here
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