Execution Roadmap and Support

After All That Planning, The Fun Starts With Implemen­tation

We Make Sure That You Don’t Get Bogged Down At Any Point During Execution

There are many points between plan and implementation where strategic growth planning can fail. The heady excitement of planning sessions fades. You’re faced with a second track of activities loaded on top of your full load of existing work. Discouragement can quickly eat away at the strongest resolve.

All those secret doubts and fears you kept to yourself come out to haunt you. Now, how can you ensure that your implementation is as successful as the strategic plan suggests? There are secrets to successful implementations that are learned only through decades of execution. It is possible to have a near foolproof implementation.

Successful Implementations Can Be Frustrating And Challenging

These Are The Problems This Program Has Been Designed To Solve

If you’ve been party to large growth implementations in the past, you know they can be problematic. You spend a lot of time planning, and came up with a thrilling plan. Everyone’s optimistic and energetic. However, there are a few issues you may experience on these types of projects.

• You’ve “tried” growth initiatives in the past and they failed. For multiple reasons, all the planning in the world did not bring about successful implementation. Silo mentality can contribute to the loss of excitement about the project. Commitment started off high, but fell off as reality set in. Resolve fades and operational crises distract participants from the concerted team effort required for success.
• You don’t have a means or method to solve cross-functional challenges. In a large enterprise, cross-functional cooperation gets lost. It’s a common result when a company hits a certain size. There’s really no ongoing need to hire for such a role. Yet, successful implementation requires a cross-functional problem-solver.
• Successful implementation is so important to the company that failure is not an option. Your company has got to succeed. Any other alternative affects the ongoing viability of your business. It’s adapt-or-die time. Even though circumstances are forcing change, you’re convinced that change can and should be orderly. With the right plan, right approach and right attitudes, implementation doesn’t have to be chaotic.
• Ongoing implementation tracking hits snags and you’ve no mechanism to keep it smooth. Because of the size and reporting structure of the organization, implementation tracking isn’t optimal. Some initiatives lag and drag down others. Performance levels of responsible parties vary and give mixed results. Sometimes “surprises” impact the whole strategic plan. There’s no overall eyes on implementation at the “in the trenches” level.
• There’s no way to monitor the pulse of the implementation during the critical first few months. With a big and unwieldy implementation, there are many points where momentum can slow. You lack a “point person” consistently taking the pulse in the beginning stages. Personality traits, internal politics and foibles can inadvertently affect the flow and speed of the project. This is a situation where what you don’t know CAN hurt you.

Don’t Stress Over Whether Your Growth Strategic Plan Will Be Fully Successful

Instead, You Could Have These Results From This Program

After going to all the work of planning a new growth strategy, you want to feel sure it will be successful. These are the kinds of results client companies get from this program.

• You’re doing a program that virtually “guarantees” the success of your growth initiatives. Decades of experience on our part has led to solid frameworks to prevent derailment of your plan. We provide your team with a toolbox jammed with tried and true methods. We’ve probably worked with any problem you could possibly experience. Concerted and coordinated team effort moves your project forward predictably.
• Cross-functional issues are no longer a challenge. Your Growth Implementation Consultant communicates and keeps growth on track. In your large enterprise, cross-functional cooperation moves the project along predictably. Problems get solved before they become problems.
• Without fear of failure, implementation is successful and much less painful. Ongoing viability of the business has been strengthened through orderly change. The company has adapted to evolving circumstances. The right plan, right approach and right attitudes have resulted in an implementation virtually free of chaos.
• Ongoing implementation tracking is smooth, and everyone is kept informed. You don’t have initiatives lagging and dragging. Results are improved by evening out the performance levels of responsible parties. There have been very few “surprises” in implementing the strategic plan. You’ve had eyes on overall implementation at the “in the trenches” level.
• During the critical first few months of implementation, there’s been consistent monitoring of the pulse. You haven’t had many points where momentum slowed. Your growth implementation “point person” has consistently taken the pulse. Problems from personality traits, internal politics and foibles haven’t affected the flow and speed of the project. You have KNOWN what’s happening so didn’t get hurt by the unknown.

When You’re Considering Hiring A Growth Implementation Consultant…

You Want to Know The Benefits You Can Expect

No one hires a Growth Implementation specialist without understanding how they will benefit. These are the benefits you can expect from this program.

• You successfully implement a long-term Strategic Growth Plan. All your research and planning pays off. Daily, you realize the implementation of the initiatives you so carefully designed. It’s exciting to see consistent progress and growth. The best part though is that the implementation is working rather smoothly. Sure, there are occasional snags, but they are relatively minor compared to the upsides.
• Your Growth Implementation Consultant keeps all growth initiatives on track and on time. Having a designated expert growth consultant in charge has made a huge difference. You have a pair of eyes and hands—and a skillful negotiator—working for you. Minor issues get resolved before they become problematic. Whatever you need to know is communicated to you so you’re not getting nasty surprises.
• You have a means to solve cross-functional issues without having to hire. Your Growth Implementation Consultant is skilled in working cross-functionally. His decades of experience work to your benefit. You don’t have to hire and train someone, anxiously hoping they’ll work out. You count on expertise and excellent communication skills working in your favor.
• You know what’s going on in the implementation of the Strategic Growth Plan. You go about managing your business as you need to—while implementation hums along in the background. No one is hiding needed information from you because they fear looking bad. You aren’t experiencing major setbacks because of communication failures. You KNOW what’s going on.
• You’re experiencing the growth you planned for—without major disruption. Because you planned so well, you’re not having daily operational crises. Your Growth Implementation Specialist is keeping things on track for you. You see regular growth and experience smooth implementation. Snafus are very minimal because of good planning and consistent implementation.
• Growth is being realized and you’re able to track success of the Strategic Growth Plan. You regularly see the growth you planned for. You track the results and enjoy seeing a rising line in graph charts. You bet big and you’re seeing the payoffs. Planning and implementing the way you did successfully minimized risks for your “big play”.

These Are The Details Of How the Service Works

It’s Actually Relatively Simple, and Incredibly Effective

Of course, implementation has been the aim of all your research and planning. Now, we get to the exciting part of turning your plan into reality. This is how it works.

Phase I: Strategy Implementation Session With The CEO

When it comes to strategic implementation, it only makes sense to start at the top. The CEO is the one driving the implementation, and this input determines the course of the engagement.

• We start the meeting by discussing the template for tracking all initiatives of the implementation. There can be great complexity, with 20-30 or more concurrent initiatives. That’s a lot of moving parts. By necessity, we need a uniform template to track each initiative and compare progress. We bring to this first meeting a suggested template format for tracking. It’s worked successfully with many companies.
• Using the template format, we ascertain exactly what information to require in regular reports. If the company already has a tracking system in place, we work with you to develop the report you need. In ideal situations, we also work with another staff person who is designated to be the “people minder”. They become the means for ensuring that reports are timely and complete.

Phase II: Monthly Growth-On-Track℠ Meetings and “Pre-Meetings

Step 1: Consultant Conducts “Pre-Meetings” With Each Reporting Area Of Responsibility

The time between finishing the PLAN and the first IMPLEMENTATION Review Meeting is critical. This is often where momentum can be lost. The excitement of the planning phase and camaraderie of the process fades. Responsible leaders get caught up in the maelstrom of everyday operations. Isolation of “silo think” sets back in. The big vision feels less inviting and seems to be just a pile of additional work.

Over decades, we’ve developed a method to keep that momentum going. We connect with each person in the week before the upcoming IMPLEMENTATION Review Meeting. This becomes an opportunity to work out any issues or concerns that could impact progress. In effect, we become your “second set of eyes” on the ongoing implementation process.

The process is as simple as, “Take me through your report.” In person, we go through all the items. Our objectives are dual. We want to be sure that each person’s initiative is on track, and that they are going to look good in the Progress Review meeting. The beauty of this is that if there are any adjustments to be made, they have the time to make them before the meeting.

We hold these “pre-meetings” for the first several cycles of Implementation Review Meetings. We aim to be a consistent calming presence, reassuring each person so they stay confident and committed. We talk about anything that is problematic, and look at how it could be tweaked. We work out a possible solution they can take to the Review Meeting. These meetings allow me to be proactive cross-functionally for your benefit. It’s a great way to quickly ascertain and preemptively solve anything that could become an issue.

Step 2: Monthly Implementation Review Meetings Keep The Project On Track

The key to successful ongoing strategic growth implementation is the monthly monitoring meetings. Without these meetings, the project is likely to falter. However, just holding meetings isn’t what makes it work. What makes it work is maintaining the high energy and momentum that the team started with. This is where I come in as a guide, cheerleader and coach. You can expect me to apply my expertise where it is needed.

• The cross-functional Implementation Review Team meets once a month. The makeup of the team varies, but includes executives, and others who manage needed important functions. Typically, each key role on an initiative is represented in these meetings.
• Because of the templated nature of reports, the meetings are typically quick and efficient. The one-page summary of accomplishments keeps things simple. Even in complex implementations of 8-20+ initiatives, the pre-meetings have solved the majority of issues in advance. Truly, these meetings are where the magic happens and you see the growth initiatives realized over time.
• Overall, the meeting is a progress assessment. We want to know, “Is anything lagging?” The report format uses green, yellow and red as quick status indicators. Green means the activity is on track. Yellows need some attention. We check on agreements and see what is needed to get yellow back up to green. If it’s red, something major really needs to change. This is infrequent, and means someone’s dropped the ball. It could be a show stopper and needs to be escalated for action.

Invitation to a Conversation

If you’ve read this far, and you think you might be interested in the program. I invite you to contact me for a complementary Growth-On-Track Strategy Session. This is a no-obligation way to find out more about the program and whether it’s right for you.

During this session, we explore the challenges you and your top team are facing. We look at what kind of results you’d like to have instead. If we seem to be a match, I’ll describe how the Growth-On-Track program might help your company achieve desired growth. Whatever the outcome, I believe you’ll gain some fresh perspective about the issues you’re facing.

The session takes about an hour and can be done in person or by phone. Click here to book your Growth-on-Track℠ Strategy Session. I look forward to the opportunity to discuss your business growth.

Where To Next?

Now that you understand how this the DO Implementation program works, you may want to review our Success Stories. To read case studies of other companies we’ve helped, go to the Case Studies page.