Organizational Performance Measures Whitepaper Introduction – Alignment
StrategyDriven contributors are pleased to introduce the organizational performance measures whitepaper: Alignment. This whitepaper elaborates on how a well constructed performance measurement system helps drive organizational alignment and provides executives and managers with timely information about adverse conditions so action can be taken to prevent undesirable consequences. Additionally, this whitepaper compliments and expands upon the principles discussed in the StrategyDriven organizational performance measures best practices Vertical Cascading and Horizontally Shared.
Business Performance Assessment Program Best Practice 1 – Executive Sponsorship
There tends to exist a perception that companies are generally open to the identification and resolution of problems; that resources will be applied to solve issues if the gains expected can be shown to outweigh the costs. Reality is frequently different. Priority setting driven by limited resources and at times less visible agendas often precludes an organization from addressing small tactical issues and large global initiatives.[wcm_restrict plans=”47738, 25542, 25653″]
Members of the executive team are uniquely positioned to understand the organization’s direction, see the competitive landscape, and make priority-based decisions regarding the deployment of the organization’s limited resources. Therefore, executive sponsorship is critical to ensure that performance of a self assessment will be well supported and its findings acted on.
Executive sponsors provide many invaluable resources to a self-assessment team. Namely, they offer:
- a span of control and command over organizational resources needed to perform the business performance assessment and implement its recommendations
- an integrated view of the organization’s performance and its external environment that will enhance the assessment’s overall perspective and be used to appropriately prioritize the performance of the business performance assessment and implementation of any subsequent recommendations in light of the organization’s other commitments
- influential relationships with other key executives, customers, and stakeholders which are critical in achieving buy-in for in successful implementation of business performance assessment recommendations
In addition to their contribution to the assessment itself, executive sponsors frequently used their position to mentor and develop members of the business performance assessment team. Team members benefit from the often deeper and more varied experience of their executive sponsor; learning how to more effectively interact with executives and senior managers, gaining a richer understanding of the complex interactions between the business environment in the organization, and becoming skilled at communicating change broadly across the organization and to external stakeholders.[/wcm_restrict][wcm_nonmember plans=”47738, 25542, 25653″]
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About the Author
Nathan Ives is a StrategyDriven Principal and Host of the StrategyDriven Podcast. For over twenty years, he has served as trusted advisor to executives and managers at dozens of Fortune 500 and smaller companies in the areas of management effectiveness, organizational development, and process improvement. To read Nathan’s complete biography, click here.
StrategyDriven Podcast Episode 1 – What is a Strategy Driven Organization?
StrategyDriven Podcasts focus on the tools and techniques executives and managers can use to improve their organization’s alignment and accountability to ultimately achieve superior results. These podcasts elaborate on the best practice and warning flag articles on the StrategyDriven website.
Episode 1 – What is a Strategy Driven Organization? introduces the StrategyDriven Podcast series by examining…
- what makes an organization strategy driven
- do strategy driven organizations really exist
- what actions can executives and managers take to create a strategy driven organization
- why should an organization work to become strategy driven
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About the Contributor
Nathan Ives is a StrategyDriven Principal, and Host of the StrategyDriven Podcast. For over twenty years, he has served as trusted advisor to executives and managers at dozens of Fortune 500 and smaller companies in the areas of management effectiveness, organizational development, and process improvement. To read Nathan’s complete biography, click here.
3, 2, 1… StrategyDriven Podcast Coming Tuesday, November 27
Less than three days remain until the StrategyDriven Podcast launch! In our first episode, Nathan and Howard explore the question: “What makes an organization strategy driven?”
The StrategyDriven Podcast series elaborates on the best practice and warning flag postings on the StrategyDriven website; offering rich examples and additional insights. We believe this podcast series offers tremendous value for executives and managers at all levels of the organization.
The StrategyDriven Podcast will be available for download to your favorite mp3 service, such as iTunes, Yahoo! Podcasts, PodcastAlley, and BluBrry, or can be listened to directly from the StrategyDriven website. Why not schedule time today to subscribe to the StrategyDriven Podcast on Tuesday, November 27?!
Strategic Planning – Why Do Organizations Need Strategic Planning
Do you know of an organization that performs extremely well during a crisis? Maybe your own?
Organizations do well during times of crisis because executives, managers, and individual contributors all gain clarity of purpose, expectation, and action. Clarity, along with a sense of urgency, breaks down organizational barriers allowing people to work efficiently together toward achievement of the shared goal(s). These factors enable the organization to resolve the crisis quickly and return to normal operations.[wcm_restrict plans=”25541, 25542, 25653″]
On a day-to-day basis, especially during a period of continuous success, organizations tend to lose clarity of purpose and the sense of urgency. Over time, bureaucracy builds as a diminished focus on the organization’s mission prevents well intentioned executives and managers from relentlessly eliminating resource waste. Bloated processes make cross-organizational execution more difficult; driving employees to focus on their personal performance and success instead of that of the organization. Silos form and performance declines. Therefore, it is critically important for leaders to clearly define the organization’s goals and actions and to instill the sense of urgency that motivates employees to work effectively and efficiently together in pursuit of mission objectives.
Strategic planning provides the foundation for creating clarity of purpose and action on a day-to-day basis. A well-defined, measurable mission supported by specific organizational objectives and reinforced by vertically cascaded, horizontally shared performance measures and effective executive and managerial oversight creates and maintains the clarity of purpose needed for continuous success. Without the unifying vision provided by strategic planning, an organization may lose sight of its goals, stray from the road to success, stumble, and ultimately fall; failing to keep pace with competitors in today’s extremely aggressive marketplace.
Final Thought…
Some organizations become victims to cyclic performance. When this occurs, the downward slide is typically viewed as a crisis for which the organization rallies to improve performance. Having realized a performance upswing, the organization becomes complacent, losing its focus and once again falling behind the competition. This cycle is often the product of ineffective strategic planning and will likely continue until a strong, unified vision is created and embraced by all members of the organization.
It is the hope of all StrategyDriven Contributors that the concepts and materials provided on our website will help you to develop and communicate the unified vision needed to make yours a truly StrategyDriven Organization.[/wcm_restrict][wcm_nonmember plans=”25541, 25541, 25653″]
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About the Author
Nathan Ives is a StrategyDriven Principal and Host of the StrategyDriven Podcast. For over twenty years, he has served as trusted advisor to executives and managers at dozens of Fortune 500 and smaller companies in the areas of management effectiveness, organizational development, and process improvement. To read Nathan’s complete biography, click here.